The story of us
by KathrynValmont
Summary: *Revised* This is the story of Kathryn and Sebastian Valmont. They are married with three children who are just as bad as them. Co- authored with Kerimack ten years ago. Please Read and Review
1. Chapter One Kerimack

**DISCLAIMER- Keri mack and I wrote this story ten years ago. I can never thank her enough for her help. As a writer I get thoughts that refuse to leave my mind. Revamping/rewriting this story was one of those ideas. Except for minor corrections I have left Keri Macks chapters alone. Thankyou x3Tinkerbell07 for editing. Please Read and Review. **

Kathryn Merteuil was every parent's wet dream of what a child should be. She was beautiful, smart, articulate, and well behaved on the outside. To the society from which she came Kathryn was the perfect model of a seventeen-year-old girl.

There were very few who knew the true Kathryn. The one who ruined people's lives for sport, snorted cocaine, and slept around behind her devoted boyfriends back. In truth Kathryn's perfect life bored her to no end. She found most people to be complete bores. There was no one around to challenge her until Sebastian Valmont arrived.

To the outside world Sebastian was as bad as Kathryn appeared good. He had already gotten kicked out of three boarding schools in Europe and the only reason Manchester agreed to take him was because his father had bought them a new library. Sebastian had the worst reputation. Rumor had it that he knocked up the Dean's daughter at the last school he was at.

When he arrived in New York he did little to change his reputation. In fact he only hoped to expand it. He was gorgeous, charming, and witty but his most striking attribute had to be his intelligence. If Sebastian had applied himself more he probably could have graduated early, but instead he used his smarts to find new and interesting ways to seduce women. Sebastian enjoyed New York but soon it became like all his other schools and he became restless. He had bedded all the girls he wanted at Manchester except one, the elusive Kathryn Merteuil.

He had wanted her the first instant he saw her. It wasn't just that she was beautiful, wealthy, and charming. Kathryn had this confidence about that no other girl her age, hell any age, possessed.

She could walk into a room and instantly have every one wrapped around her little finger. On his first day of school Sebastian had walked up to give her his best smile and asked if she could help him find his class.

She had returned the smile and said simply, "I'm not interested."

"Excuse me?" He asked surprised she was so bold.

"I know all about you and I'm not interested. I have a boyfriend," she explained "Maybe you should ask one of the cheerleaders if they can help you find your...room. Good-bye."

She then smiled and walked off leaving Sebastian stunned. He didn't want a cheerleader he wanted her. For the rest of the semester this general exchange continued between them. Sebastian would make a move on her and when she turned him down it would turn into a rude comment. Kathryn would always ignore him and it just made him want her more.

As the school year progressed Sebastian began to have his doubts about Kathryn's little innocent girl routine. There was the time he caught her smoking outside of school (she told him she was just holding the cigarette after she took it from someone else. He didn't buy it.) Then there was the time he heard her curse under her breath at a teacher who didn't give her her customary good grade. All of these little events would pale in comparison to what he saw one afternoon in the boy's locker room.

It was after school one day when Sebastian was leaving the Dean's office after serving detention. He had to go to the bathroom so he used the boy's locker room. As he was walking to the toilet he could hear the sounds of people fucking. Hiding behind the lockers he watched as one of the football players fucked a girl against the wall. He was lifting her up and her legs were wrapped around his waist.

Soft moans were coming from her mouth. It took Sebastian a minute to realize that the girl was Kathryn. But that was not what surprised him. The guy she was with was not her boyfriend. Sebastian was delighted with the idea that Kathryn was not the perfect angel she seemed to be. As the couple finished the guy made some kind of gesture to kiss Kathryn but she pushed him away and scoffed, "Please. We're done here." She then made a gesture with her hand for him to leave and he did.

Sebastian didn't reveal himself right away. Instead he watched as Kathryn cleaned herself up and he then got another surprise. She took the crucifix that she always wore and unscrewed the bottom. Sebastian was shocked when she leaned over and snorted a bump of cocaine.

Hardly able to control himself anymore Sebastian came up behind her and said, "Well, well what do we have here? I think you've been holding out on me, Kathryn. I never knew you had so many interesting hobbies."

Kathryn looked up momentarily startled but quickly composed herself. "How long have you been here?"

"Long enough to see you fake that little orgasm. You really are a talented girl."

Kathryn studied Sebastian and quickly decided what to do. She had always been attracted to him. He was just different than the other morons at Manchester. She was curious if he was the challenge she was looking for.

She slowly smiled at him. "Did you enjoy it?" She could tell the question surprised him.

What did he want her to do, beg for him to keep quiet, offer him whatever he wanted in return? Well fuck that, she thought.

"Well it was surprising to say the least. I thought you were such a good little girl. I have to admit I'm glad to be proven wrong."

"Are you?" Kathryn began to advance on Sebastian slowly walking towards him. "Tell me Sebastian who is the one girl at Manchester who you could never have?"

"I think you know the answer to that." Kathryn smiled up at him and placed her hands on his chest

"I know you want me Sebastian. The question is: can you have me?"

Sebastian swallowed hard. "You tell me."

She leaned over and licked his bottom lip. "I have to admit I'm curious given your reputation and all. If you got me do you think you could satisfy me?"

Sebastian looked up at her mocking smile and he had had enough. He grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her against the sink. Their bodies pressed hard against each other enough that Kathryn could feel his erection through his pants.

"What do you think?"

Kathryn leaned over and kissed him hard on the mouth. Sebastian gladly accepted the kiss and pulled her closer to him. After awhile they both pulled away breathless. Kathryn smiled up at him triumphantly. "We'll see."

She then pulled out of his grasp and walked out the door. From that point on, their relationship would never be the same.


	2. Chapter Two Kerimack

After Sebastian's encounter with Kathryn in the locker room he was more determined than ever to get her. In school things went on as they normally did. Kathryn went back to ignoring him, much to his annoyance. Every now and then he would make some sort of comment towards her like when they were once assigned to be in the same study group together.

He smiled and said "My, what a beautiful cross Kathryn. It's rather large; tell me can you put stuff into it?"

Kathryn gave him and icy glare, "No."

"Are you sure I know this girl who had one just like that and the bottom of it could unscrew. In fact she used to put cocaine in it."

The rest of the members of the group looked over at Kathryn who was staring daggers and him. She said calmly, "Don't be ridiculous. It doesn't unscrew."

This type of exchange occurred frequently between the two but never went anywhere. Sebastian tried to get her alone but it was nearly impossible. The more he was around her and couldn't have her, the more obsessed he became.

Kathryn meanwhile was enjoying Sebastian's torment. She knew he wanted her desperately and she enjoying playing with him. She knew it was only a matter of time before she gave in to him. For as badly as he wanted her, she also wanted him.

Several of her friends who had slept with Sebastian all confessed he was the best they had ever had. Kathryn found out for herself the night of her eighteenth birthday party.

Her socialite mother had insisted on throwing her a large party. She invited most of their society friends and several out of town guests. This was all very boring to Kathryn who would have liked to spend her birthday anywhere but there.

Her mother of course didn't care since the party was more for her than Kathryn. The night was going along smoothly and Kathryn was looking for a way out of the party. Her mother rolled out the large cake and everyone sang Happy Birthday.

As she was blowing out the candles Kathryn looked up and was surprised to find Sebastian in front of her. She was surprised to say the least that her mother would invite him given his reputation. As the crowed began to part she asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to wish you a happy birthday," he said innocently. He then leaned in and whispered in her ear "And pick up where we left off."

Kathryn rolled her eyes and pushed him away "Fuck off."

In truth Kathryn didn't want him to go away. It was just always more fun to push him away and play with him. For the rest of the night she ignored him. She thought he would eventually get the hint and come and find her again.

Instead she saw him talking to some beautiful girl and then saw them leave together. The party soon dwindled down and her mother went to bed. As Kathryn was saying good-bye to one of their guests she overheard someone say "Did you see that girl Sebastian was with? Wonder how long it will take until he has her on her knees?"

Kathryn ran to her room and threw open the door. She was so angry. How dare he leave her party with some tramp? He was supposed to chase after her. Kathryn got so angry she grabbed a glass vase and chucked it against the wall.

"Bad night?" Kathryn jumped and turned around.

She was face- to- face with Sebastian who was sitting on the couch behind her. "What the fuck are you doing in here?"

"As I was walking Tanya to her car it occurred to me that I never gave you your present."

"I thought you would have been fucking her brains out right about now."

Sebastian smiled and sat up, "Is this what this little display was about?"

Kathryn scoffed, "Hardly."

"Right. Tanya's not really my type. I like a girl who can challenge me and I prefer brunettes."

"Goody for me," she said as she poured herself a drink.

A second later she felt Sebastian behind her and whispered, "God, you are so beautiful."

"I've never heard that before," she responded sarcastically.

"You're also incredibly cruel and twisted." Kathryn turned around surprised and found Sebastian's face unreadable. "I like it," he said as his face broke into a wicked smile.

It might have been that moment that she fell in love with him. Kathryn really didn't believe in love, thought it was bullshit. However with Sebastian it was different. He had seen the real her and he liked it. She didn't have to be Mary Sunshine around him.

This time Sebastian kissed her and they quickly ended up in bed together. Both were already quite experienced for being so young and it showed. They fucked for what seemed like hours and Kathryn was shocked that one of the maids or her mother hadn't come in to see what all the noise was about. At one point they had even fallen off the bed. They finished before dawn both extremely exhausted and sweaty.

Kathryn looked over at him and asked "So are you bored yet?"

Sebastian shook his head "No. I don't think I could ever get bored of this."

And he didn't. From there on the two where together whenever they could be alone. Kathryn continued to see her boyfriend but fucked Sebastian every chance she got. Their activities weren't strictly limited to the bed either. They had done it in the school elevator, the locker room, bathroom stall at a nightclub, and all over their respective houses whenever they were alone.

Kathryn was happy with the arrangement but Sebastian was growing tired of it. The more he was with Kathryn the more he wanted to be with her all the time. He was insanely jealous of her idiot jock boyfriend and he asked her repeatedly to drop him.

"I can't," she explained. "He's good for my reputation."

"Yes but you have more fun with me."

"True," she laughed. "But my mother would throw a fit."

It always came back to her fucking reputation. Kathryn couldn't be seen with him because what would people think? Sebastian didn't give a damn about what other people thought and he wished she felt the same way. Still he loved being with her even if it was in secret so he kept up his end of the deal.

The truth of the matter was that Sebastian was finding little interest in other women. He was starting to fall in love with Kathryn, which came as a shock to him. Like Kathryn, he thought love was a joke and never thought it would happen to him but he knew he loved her. Sick of having to see her with her asshole boyfriend Sebastian devised a plan to get Kathryn to admit her feelings.

They had both been invited to a party at their mutual friend Blain's house. He knew Kathryn would show up with her jock boyfriend, so he decided to bring a date, Annette Hardgrove. Annette was the Headmaster's pristine daughter whose squeaky clean reputation was rivaled only by Kathryn's. In fact Kathryn absolutely despised Annette, which is why she was the perfect date to bring. Annette had always had a crush on Sebastian so it wasn't hard to convince her to come along.

When Kathryn spotted the two of them together she thought she might break something. She hated Annette Hardgrove more than anyone at their school. She was just so good and sweet that it made her sick. She couldn't believe Sebastian would actually show up with her. What was he thinking?

Kathryn walked up to the couple and pretended to be polite. "It's so nice to see you Annette. Sebastian, can I talk to you for a second?"

She pulled him into the bathroom. "What the fuck are you doing with that bitch?"

Sebastian smiled, "Jealous are we?"

"Please. I just can't stand her. Get rid of her." Sebastian laughed

"Sure. When you get rid of your dick-head boyfriend and go out with me?"

Now Kathryn laughed, "Why would I do that?"

The smile left Sebastian's face and he said simply, "Because you love me."

Kathryn was startled to say the least. She tried to laugh it off. "Don't be ridiculous. I don't love anyone."

Sebastian slowly walked towards her until she was pressed against the wall. "Yes you do. You're in love with me as much as I'm in love with you."

"Yeah right." She tried to not look uncomfortable. "Wait you love me?"

Sebastian shrugged casually. "Maybe. But I'm sick of this sneaking around shit. I'm going to date Annette and not go near you until you admit your feelings for me. Understand?" He then kissed her once more hard on the lips and left the room, leaving Kathryn stunned.

Sebastian knew he had taken a risk with his ultimatum but he knew it would pay off and ultimately he was right. Kathryn ignored him for the rest of the party until she saw him dancing with Annette. He knew she was watching so he leaned over and kissed Annette on the mouth.

A minute later Kathryn was right there. "Okay enough! You win! I love you. Happy now?"

Sebastian grinned triumphantly. "Very." He then pushed Annette away and pulled Kathryn into a passionate kiss with everyone watching. From then on out they started dating publicly and nothing would be the same.


	3. Chapter Three

A young girl with dark brown hair and vivid green eyes sat down at the large table placed in the dining room. She was very privileged, always getting her way, nothing her heart desired had ever been denied. One could classify her as another poor rich girl in the making. The first thing that went against that stereotype was that her parents adored her.

"Where are your brothers?" questioned her father with a small sense of irritation.

The second thing that went against that cliché was that she had two brothers whom she shared everything with. There had never been a sense of misplaced jealousy. Perhaps the reason for their strong bond was the fact that they were triplets.

"I don't know, Daddy. It's not my job to know where they are. I'm not in charge of Terrance and Soren."

"Oh, but Christina, you are. Who else would I entrust to do so?" explained her mother patiently glancing at her with a sense of affection. "I'm sure they'll be along shortly, Sebastian."

"Kathryn, I wouldn't particularly care what they were doing if you hadn't insisted we always eat together."

Christina looked from parent to parent with a small smile on her face. She was proud to be a Valmont and everything they stood for. Her smile turned into a smirk as she watched her two brothers make their way to the table, followed by a maid.

The first boy who sat down next to her wore an impassive expression on his face, not particularly caring if he was late He was the undeclared leader between the three, though he often left the care taking and ideas to his sister.

The second boy, took the most after Sebastian's nature, was never afraid to make a fuss about something. He sat on the other side of his sister with an annoyed expression. The maid didn't look happy with him. Christina could only guess what Soren had done now.

Both boys had blonde curly hair with blue eyes. They had inherited Sebastian's handsome features. Although side-by-side, Soren was the taller of the two.

"I apologize for the wait. I had to make sure these two were cleaned up for dinner."

"I understand, Zelda. I assume it won't happen again," responded Kathryn sternly.

"Of course not. Mr. Valmont there's a phone call for you..."

"You're just going to have to tell them my wife doesn't understand business is no match for family dinner, no matter how much money is at stake," said Sebastian sarcastically.

"Go ahead, take the call," said Kathryn, shrugging. "But there will be consequences later."

Sebastian flashed her a smile before walking towards the dining room's entrance. He turned back around as all three of his children giggled.

"I look forward to it," he promised.

Christina stood with her hands on her hips very early the next morning. She scowled at Terrance and Soren as they walked into her room. Why was it that they could never get things right? she thought, tapping her foot.

"You're late. Everyone's going to be up soon," she insisted.

"No they won't. It's Saturday," said Soren.

"Someone will be up to make breakfast soon," argued Christina.

"Let's just get this over with," declared Terrence.

"Fine,"conceded Christina. "Well each take a floor..."

"What are we doing again?" asked Soren as he rubbed sleep out of his eyes.

"We went over this yesterday. You're such a dumb ass!"

"Well, you're a bitch," insisted Soren.

"Let's get going," interrupted Terrence.

"Look at the time," commented Soren, laughing. "We can at least flood the hallway."

They walked into one of the bathrooms on their floor. Christina went straight to sink, dropping the hand towel over the drain before turning on the faucet. Soren unraveled the whole roll of toilet paper and shoved the wadded paper into the bowl. He began flushing furiously, smiling as the water began to rise. Terrence plugged the tub and turned the water on full blast. The triplets stood together smirking, as the water from each of the vessels started to spill over the top and onto the floors.

"Soren, I bet Zelda is still asleep. We should pinch her so that she can see what's going on."

"Why do I have to do it?" asked Soren.

Christina came back with, "Because I said so."

"You're not the boss of me!"

"Jesus Christ, shut up! I'll do it," relented Terrence as they walked back into Christina's room. They sat, giddy, waiting for the perfect time for Terrence to do his part. After about a half an hour, Terrence crept into Zelda's room and pinched her dangling hand. The woman stirred but didn't wake up. It was only a matter of time.

Terrence found his way back to Christina's room and the three of them laid on her bed, in anticipation. But before they could see the fruits of their labor, they ended up falling asleep.

The triplets stared down at their food later at breakfast not saying a word.

Kathryn had woke them up about an hour ago. She had barely been able to contain her rage as she yelled at them. Though somewhat impressed by the floating river in the hall, she wasn't going to let them get away with this.

"I trust that the three of you will be on your best behavior tonight at the party."

"Party? What are you going on about?" questioned Sebastian.

"I host a party every year for the board members of Manchester Prep. I assume you've forgotten," stated Kathryn.

"We're gonna be on our best behavior tonight, Mom." Soren spoke up. A small smile spread across his lips, "But come on, I know you thought it was funny."

"Perhaps." Kathryn admitted. "In any event the three of you need to stay out of trouble for the next day or so."

"I'm done eating. Can we go play now?" asked Terrence.

"Yeah, please? We'll even be nice to Zelda all day long," promised Christina.

"For some reason I don't believe you, but go ahead," said Sebastian as he waved his hand.

"Cecile should be here within the hour," Kathryn smiled faintly as she watched Christina chase both of her brothers out of the room.

"Why do you even bother with her?"

"It's fun to make Court squirm and Bunny Caldwell considers me a saint. I intend to keep it that way."

"I see your point. Why would you invite them tonight to watch Court flounder and to keep the shriveled woman happy?" asked Sebastian in disgust.

"It's so much more than that," insisted Kathryn.

"I should have known. What are you planning?" asked Sebastian, already bored with the conversation.

"I'm going to help Cecile and Court get a divorce..."

"Maybe you should just let go. Who cares if he left you all those years ago for her?"

"I just want justice," declared Kathryn. "And you're going to help."

"How am I supposed to help?"

"You are going to take pictures at the party tonight. Cecile is going to find herself in a compromising situation of sorts," bragged Kathryn.

"In case it's escaped your attention, no one is particularly fond of Court's idiot wife."

"That hasn't always been the case. I'm sure that you remember Ronald," laughed Kathryn.

"No... No fucking way! He wanted to kill me after he found out I slept with Cecile. And surprisingly Court never found out. I think Court and Cecile should stay married. They're perfect for each other."

"If you hadn't been so desperate to get me to fuck you, you wouldn't have slept with Cecile. It's quite comical when you think about."

"How so?" demanded Sebastian.

"You kissed Annette and seduced Cecile to get my attention. Ronald fucked Cecile and is now married to Annette..." Kathryn climbed into her husband's lap.

"And yet you married me" Sebastian wrapped his arms around her, claiming her lips.

"So are you in?" asked Kathryn breathlessly as she pulled away from him.

"I don't want to hurt Annette."

"Who cares?"

"She doesn't deserve this and you know it."

"Is there a part of you that still has feelings for her?" demanded Kathryn, choosing to ignore Sebastian's incredulous expression.

"Of course not, but she hasn't done anything!"

"When it's all said and done I'll speak with Ronald and give him a plausible reason for his discretion."

"You win." As he pulled her back into a kiss, Kathryn roughly returned it. Something about being able to convince her husband of anything made her horny.

Kathryn walked through the various rooms of her house to reassure herself that everything was in order for the night's party. She walked into the kitchen, handing a list to her butler.

"I want all of these items served tonight. Do you understand?"

"Yes Ma'am," he replied dutifully.

"Good and tonight you'll have off. But you'll set the food up before you leave,"instructed Kathryn.

"That's the caterer's job," he replied.

"I don't care who's doing it. Just make sure it gets done!"

"Of course, Madam. Ms. Helen waits for you in the drawing room."

"Did she bring with dresses and suits for tonight from the shop?" inquired Kathryn.

"But of course," he smiled.

"Outstanding."

****** Sebastian stood in the alcove, that led to the doorway of his children's playroom, undetected. A small smile played on his face as he witnessed the hell his children were putting their nannies through to get them ready for the evening. He almost felt bad. It wasn't their fault that his children behaved so badly. He was proud to accept half of the blame.

"Stop pulling my hair," complained Christina as Zelda combed her hair.

"If you would sit still it wouldn't hurt so much," replied Zelda.

"I am sitting still. What do you call this?"

"Would you please stop jerking your head?"

Both of her brothers gleefully laughed as they sat on the floor. They picked up a toy chest and dumped out all of its contents. They had long ago been ready to go. Their other nanny, Mary, was having a hard time trying to clean up after them. Every time the terrible duo thwarted her efforts, she just got angrier. Sebastian decided now would be a good time as any to make himself known.

"I'll take it from here," declared Sebastian as he entered the room.

He smirked at the look of displeasure that graced Zelda's face as Christina jumped into his arms. How long could it really take to brush her hair? Sebastian thought.

"Come on, Dad. Let's go! I'm starving," exclaimed Soren.

"You're always hungry," declared Terrence.

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Yes you are," agreed Christina as Sebastian put her down.

"You're outvoted," Terrence laughed.

"I don't care," insisted Soren, scowling.

"What time would you like us to bring them upstairs for bed?" questioned Mary.

"We'll take care of it. Why don't the two of you take the night off?"

"Alright. We'll take care of this room first."

"We better go, Dad. Mom hates it when we're late," stated Terrence.

"Here we go," said Christina sarcastically as she took a hold of Sebastian's hand.


	4. Chapter Four

There was nothing more satisfying to Kathryn than when her orchestrated plans came together. Along with everyone else she was allowed to play the shocked spectator.

Tonight was her typical dinner party. She watched as her guests mingled and exchanged false pleasantries with one another . Every so often they would stop and thank her for her hospitality. She would smile, playing the gracious hostess. Just as she thought that she would die of boredom Annette and Ronald made their entrance, smiling at Kathryn as they approached her.

"I'm so glad that the two of you accepted my invitation tonight. I do apologize for the short notice."

The both of them warmly embraced Kathryn. She speculated that this must be a nice change. Ronald and Annette had just moved from Kansas to New York. God only knew what it was like to live on a farm. Kathryn shuddered at the thought.

"We are so happy to be back in town," declared Annette.

"I can only imagine," agreed Kathryn.

"She's just happy to be able to work at Manchester like her father," explained Ronald.

"I start on Monday as Manchester's newest English teacher."

"Isn't that just wonderful?" smiled Kathryn.

"I saw your new line in Vogue just the other day," informed Annette.

"Did you now?" questioned Kathryn. "What are your thoughts?"

"There are hardly words to describe how truly talented you are," gushed Annette.

"You're far too kind."

"I'm completely serious," insisted Annette.

"Believe it or not, I'm still here," reminded Ronald.

"My apologies, it's just that Annette and I have so much to catch up on."

"We most certainly do," smiled Annette.

Annette had always found Kathryn to be an exceptional person. From her first day at Manchester,Annette had strived to be more like Kathryn. She was greatly admired and held a reputation that was without question. She had always considered Kathryn to be a good friend. She had been hurt when Sebastian had tossed her to the side when Kathryn admitted to being in love with him.

As hurt as she was it was apparently not meant to be. She didn't consider herself cultured enough to keep his interest. She supposed that in the case of Sebastian and Kathryn opposites really did attract.

On the day of graduation Kathryn had approached Annette with an apprehensive expression. She smiled at Kathryn. What she wanted more than anything was to resume their friendship.

"Annette, I want to apologize for everything that has happened this year."

"I forgive you, Kathryn."

"I'm glad to hear that. I never wanted you to get hurt," explained Kathryn.

"Thank you. That means a lot to me. I want the two of us to be friends again," said Annette.

"I'd like that as well," agreed Kathryn.

"So, how are things with Sebastian?" inquired Annette.

"Absolutely wonderful. Don't tell anyone, but he's asked me to marry him." Kathryn went on happily.

"That's great."

"Isn't it? Well, I'll see you around, Annette."

As happy as Annette was for her friend she couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy. But she had more important things to focus on, such as her future.

A couple months later she had attended an event at Julliard.

It had been a typical fundraiser. People had sipped their champagne, donated money, and gossiped about others in order to pass the time. Instead Annette made eye contact with a man who was staring at her from across the room. When their eyes met, she felt her heart skip a beat as he made his way over to her.

"I'm Ronald Clifford."

"Annette Hargrove."

"You looked lonely over here," commented Ronald.

"Does that line usually work?" questioned Annette

"I hope not," stated Ronald as he tried to keep the sadness out of his voice.

"Why is that?"

She was intrigued by Ronald already. He told her a story of love gone wrong with a younger girl he had been enamored with. She told him how she had pinned too high of hopes on a guy who had just taken her on one date. By the end of the night they were laughing. If this is what love could feel like, she didn't mind so much.

"Finally he arrives," exclaimed Kathryn jarring Annette out of her memories.

Sebastian shook Ronald's hand, taking notice of the strained smile on his face. For extra measure, he kissed Annette on both of her cheeks. He knew that it would not only irritate Ronald, but Kathryn as well. He loved killing two birds with one stone.

"Ronald, Annette, I'd like to introduce my three children to you. This is Christina, Terrence, and Soren," Kathryn said evenly.

"It's so nice to meet the three of you. All of you look so much like your parents," declared Annette.

"It's nice to meet you as well, Mrs. Clifford," the three of them said together.

"Please call me Annette."

Christina looked towards the front door and watched as Court walked in with Cecile. Terrence controlled himself from laughing when Cecile tripped and fell. Oh well. Some women just weren't supposed to wear high heels. The best part was that Court hadn't even noticed. Crying, she followed after her husband.

"She falls down every time," whispered Christina.

"She's so clumsy," commented Soren to both of his siblings.

"What was that, honey?" questioned Annette.

"I was just saying how our parents have the nicest friends," replied Soren.

"You are just the sweetest," sighed Annette, completely charmed by him.

"That's are our children for you. They always make us so proud," exaggerated Sebastian.

"I can only imagine," commented Ronald offhandedly.

"So, what is it you do these days? Are you still teaching music, Ronald?" asked Sebastian, hardly able to help himself.

"Yes, I do. I'm going to be the new music teacher at Manchester."

"The two of you will be working together," demanded Sebastian, genuinely surprised. "I don't know if I could live and work with my wife. You're a far better man that I am," mocked Sebastian.

"I would tend to agree," said Ronald tensely.

"Oh, my God! Ronald!" exclaimed Cecile. She ran over to the group and threw herself into Ronald's arms.

"She finally noticed him. She's so embarrassing," whispered Christina.

"She definitely knows how to make an entrance," remarked Terrence.

"She gets noticed," commented Soren.

"How do the two of you know each other?" asked Court as he appraised Kathryn's body with his eyes, trying not to be obvious about it. Sebastian was not happy about this.

"Yes, how do you know our darling Cecile?" asked Sebastian as Ronald glared at him.

"He used to give me music lessons," responded Cecile wistfully.

"He's so talented. Don't you think?" asked Annette.

"You have no idea," whispered Cecile.

Court and Annette had no idea what Cecile's implication meant. It really solidified it for Sebastian just how big of idiots those two truly were. Kathryn may have had better luck attempting to get them together. How could they both miss the tortured looks exchanged between Cecile and Ronald?

"I'd like to introduce you to my wife," said Ronald with a sense of urgency.

"You're married!" exclaimed Cecile.

"Cecile and I know each other. We went to school together. It's been years now," said Annette.

"I'm her husband," announced Court as if it had just occurred to him.

"I have to go to the bathroom," said Cecile as tears fell down her cheeks.

"Is something the matter?" asked Annette with concern.

Cecile ignored Annette and ran off to the restroom. Annette failed to notice the cruel smile on each child's face. Kathryn gave them a knowing expression. This was too good to miss.

"Court, Annette, dinner is about to be served. Ronald, since you were a mentor of sorts to Cecile, you should go after her," reasoned Kathryn.

"I can't believe you got married!" cried Cecile at Ronald's reflection in the mirror.

"You did too, Cecile!"

"I did," agreed Cecile as she left the bathroom.

Ronald walked out after her. He saw the tears falling down her cheeks. He pulled her into a hug and sighed deeply.

"Let's go into this room and talk," suggested Ronald. He led her out of the bathroom into a nearby guest room.

Ronald sat by Cecile on the bed as tears continued to roll down her cheeks. Both of them were unaware of Sebastian's entrance. He brought her into his arms to comfort her.

"Cecile, you have to calm down. Things are very different now," explained Ronald.

She pulled away from his embrace and lightly brushed her lips against his. Ronald pulled her closer as she deepened the kiss. Cecile sighed deeply as he began to take her clothes off. Suddenly, Ronald tensed realizing what he was doing, what he was risking.

"Cecile, I cannot do this. I'm happily married to Annette," said Ronald as he all but ran out of the room.

"He left me again," cried Cecile as Sebastian came out of the closet. "How could he? He doesnt love her. He loves me," insisted Cecile.

"We all move on," explained Sebastian rolling his eyes.

Cecile wrapped her arms around Sebastian as her tears began to fall again. At that moment, Sebastian knew he had to stop agreeing to his wife's plans. She kissed him quickly before pulling away. She pushed him on the bed in the middle of the room and straddled him.

"Whats wrong with me?" wailed Cecile still on top of Sebastian.

He hardly knew where to go from here. He had a hysterical Cecile on top of him, who happened to be half naked. How he ended up in these predicaments, he didn't know.

"Am I fuckable?"

Yes, you're fuckable," said Sebastian in a voice he used with his children.

Kathryn quietly watched as her husband told Cecile she was fuckable. Watching as he kissed Cecile stole her breath away. She wanted to watch this play out, but her anger, as well as sense a of betrayal, got the best of her.

"Get your hands off of my husband!"

"This isn't what it looks like," insisted Cecile.

"Get the hell out of my house!" Kathryn screamed at Cecile before storming out of the guest bedroom.

She was fuming as she wound her way through the hallways and up the stairs towards her bedroom. It didn't matter that Kathryn had a house full of people she was supposed to be entertaining, she was far too angry at what she had just walked in on.

Sebastian followed Kathryn into their room fearing the storm that was about to come. No one got angrier than his wife.

"I cannot believe you slept with her! I told you from the beginning if you ever cheated on me I would leave you!"

"I did not sleep with her!"

"Yes, you did! I saw you," screamed Kathryn.

"I didn't fucking sleep with her!" yelled Sebastian, not to be out done by his wife.

"What are we going to do?" asked Terrance as his brother and sister watched their parents from the hallway.

"We could lock them in the room and force them to fuck and make up," suggested Soren.

"The whole world can hear what they're saying," complained Terrance.

"Did Daddy cheat on Mom?" asked Christina.

"Of course not!" reasoned Soren.

"How do you know?" asked Christina.

"Because I know everything," said Soren.

"Yeah, right," replied Christina sarcastically.

Soren was about to reply when his brother cut him off. "Stop it!"

"Let's stay and listen," said Christina.

"Look what I have..." smiled Soren as pulled both of his parents' cellphones from his pocket. "We should keep their phones and lock them in the room."

"That may be the only good idea you've ever had," said Christina with a sarcastic smile.

"If were gonna do it, let's do it now," said Terrence before the two of them could begin to argue.

"You are just like your father!"

"Well you're just like your mother."

Before Sebastian knew what was happening Kathryn slapped him. And she knew how to make it hurt. He put his hand over his cheek before turning towards her.

"I apologize," said Sebastian.

"I was delusional to think that I could be happy. It looks like our plan backfired."

"What are you talking about?" asked Sebastian slowly.

"Cecile and Court aren't gonna get divorced. We are."

"But I didn't do anything!" yelled Sebastian.

"I'm going to sleep in one of the guest rooms." declared Kathryn icily. "And I'm leaving in the morning."

"Where are you going to go?" asked Sebastian, calmer than he thought he should be.

"I suppose that I'll take the children to my mother's house."

"You are not taking my children anywhere," Sebastian exploded although he tried to control his temper.

"They're my children!" exclaimed Kathryn.

"They're my children too!" yelled Sebastian.

"How do you think a judge will feel about that?"questioned Kathryn spitefully.

"Do it and there will be consequences," threatened Sebastian.

"This is ridiculous. I'm leaving."

Kathryn went to open their bedroom door only to find it locked. She glared at Sebastian with a suspicious look.

"Trust me. I did not lock you in here with me. I don't want to be anywhere near you," insisted Sebastian.

Then the two of them heard the giggling on the other side of the door and knew who was responsible.

"Unlock the door!" yelled Sebastian.

"Nope! I can't unlock the door!" Christina giggled, realizing that this was their best scheme yet.

"Why not?" asked Sebastian in annoyance.

"Because you two are fighting," said Soren.

Both Sebastian and Kathryn heard the retreating footsteps. "Fucking kids! Damn it! I cannot wait to get away from you," said Kathryn.

"Well, that's not what you said this morning,"said Sebastian.

"Shut the fuck up!" Kathryn sat as far away from him as possible ******

"Let's go see if they're still fighting," Christina as the three of them sat on Terrence's bed. Half an hour had passed since they locked their parents up.

"No, let them work out their problems. All we have to worry about is making sure none of the maids get in there with the extra set of keys," said Terrance.

"I want to find out what's happening," said Soren

"Yeah, me too," said Christina.

"You're out voted," said Soren with a look of triumph on his face towards his brother.

"Unlock this door," said Sebastian as he heard the approaching footsteps outside the door.

"We're not letting you guys out until you stop fighting," said Terrance.

" Unlock the fucking door," said Sebastian.

"I think they're deaf," said Soren.

"Yeah, me too. We are not letting you out until you guys agree not to get a divorce," said Christina.

"Well, it was her idea," argued Sebastian from the other side of the door.

"Well I'm not the one who slept with that whore," responded Kathryn.

"For the last time I didn't fuck her," said Sebastian.

"I don't think they're ready to come out yet," said Terrance.

"Yeah, me either," said Soren.

"Like we said, until you two fuck and make up we're not letting you guys out of there," said Christina.

"I have my cell phone! If you don't let us out of here right now the maid will be very upset with you three and you'll be punished," threatened Sebastian.

"What's that?" asked Soren with a confused expression on his face.

"It's what will happen to all three of you tomorrow," explained Kathryn

"There's another problem," said Christina, choosing to ignore her mothers idle threat.

"What would that be?" asked Kathryn.

"We have both of your cell phones," said Terrance.

"And another thing is I forgot where I placed the key," said Soren.

Kathryn and Sebastian heard the footsteps retreat.

"Okay, here's what we do. We pretend to get along, they let us out of here" said Sebastian as he heard his three children walk away.

"They're not stupid like the people we con. They know the difference when they see it," said Kathryn.

"God damn it!" He picked up a glass ashtray and threw it against the wall.

"Calm down."

He looked at Kathryn with determination in his eyes before advancing on her.

"I've made a decision," declared Sebastian. "I'm not losing my family because my wife is paranoid," Sebastian arrogantly stated.

"It's a shame that you don't get to make that decision."

"Like hell I don't. You belong to me!"

"Get away from me!" Kathryn had venom in her eyes.

"No, I don't think I will," whispered Sebastian seductively.

*He picked her up while she tried to break out of his embrace, despite the fact it really excited her. He threw her disgracefully on the bed. She tried to get up but he was quickly on top of her.*

"Get the fuck off me!"

*Before she could fight him his lips came crashing down on hers. She couldn't help the moans that escaped her lips. His lips moved down to her neck as he kissed her roughly.

She knew her lips, neck, and other body parts would be bruised but she didn't care. All that she cared was that he was inside of her. He undid her dress and began to suck on her nipples through her bra.*

"Now," she begged.

He undid her bra and continued to suck on her breast. She moaned deeply before turning around to face him. Both of them knew neither of them was going to stop what was happening. It felt too good to stop.

"Mine mine mine," said Sebastian as he mercilessly pounded into her.

TWO HOURS LATER:

The three kids unlocked the door to find their parents asleep in each other's arms.

"I think it worked," said Terrance.

"Yeah," replied Christina.

"Should we wake them up?" asked Christina.

"No, we should let them be. But we'll leave the door unlocked," said Terrance.

They tip-toed back into their own rooms where they fell fast asleep after being up all night.

Kathryn opened her eyes. "They have some serious explaining to do when they wake up…"

"Go back to bed," said Sebastian sleepily.


	5. Chapter Five Kerimack

Chapter Five

"We have to punish them," Kathryn said as she turned to face her husband.

"Why? We never have before."

"Well they've never locked us up before. They went too far this time."

Sebastian sighed. He hated the idea of punishing his children that he loved so much. "They were only trying to help us and they did succeed."

"Yeah but if we let them get away with it this time they'll think it's okay to do it again. We can't let them walk all over us."

Sebastian rolled his eyes at is wife, "You're starting to sound like your mother."

"Bite your tongue! I am nothing like her! I just want them to know that they can't pull this fucking shit again on us."

"You know you're sort of hot when you get all pissed like this," Sebastian remarked with a smile as he nuzzled her neck.

He thought maybe he could get her to forget about this with sex. She seemed to give into it when she straddled him and he kissed her mouth. They kissed long and deep and then she remarked "I want you to fuck me but that still doesn't change anything. They're still going to get punished."

The two parents were so involved with each other that they hadn't noticed their children watching them. The three were happy that their parents were once again getting along and that their plan had worked but they certainly didn't want to get punished for it. They also knew there mother was more than capable of doing it if she wanted to no matter what their father said to her.

"We have to do something. I don't want to get punished!" Soren complained.

"Don't be an idiot, they won't punish us," Terrance said simply.

"But Mommy said so," Christina reminded him.

"She's really mad."

"Dad won't let her," Terrance assured them as they went into the living room.

"They never punish us."

"But what if they do?"

"Then we'll just have to get on her good side."

Soren looked at his brother and asked, "How?"

Terrance went over to his father's camera, which had been tossed aside during the argument. After fiddling with it for a second he was able to get the film out. "We'll use this."

"The pictures Daddy took of that Cecil girl?"

"Yeah. Mom hates her and is always calling her a stupid bitch. She wanted Dad to take these pictures and that's why they were fighting. If we help Mom destroy her, she won't punish us," Terrance explained matter-of-factly.

"Yeah!" Both Soren and Christina said in unison.

"This is what were gonna do. I'll put them in this envelope and you go give it to Zelda and tell her that mom wants it delivered to the papers. It's very important."

"She hates us," Christina reminded him. "She won't do it because we told her to."

"No, she'll do it because she's afraid of Mommy. Now go do it."

"Why do I have to?" Soren whined.

Terrance rolled his eyes, "Because I said so. Now do it before they get up."

Soren sighed but ran down the hall and gave the package to the maid along with his brother's instructions anyway. The maid looked doubtful at first but then Soren told her that his mother was in a bad mood so she said, "Then I better do this right away. You kids stay out of trouble while I'm gone."

Soren then ran back to his siblings "I did it! I did it! She's taking the photos."

Both Terrance and Christina smiled wickedly just like their parents did when they had done something evil.

"Good. Now we have to behave until the paper comes."

"When's that?" Soren asked.

"Tomorrow morning, dumbass!" Christina scoffed.

"You're a stupid bitch," Soren told her repeating his mother's favorite phrase.

"Shut up both of you! We have to act nice until tomorrow."

So the three were on their best behavior. Kathryn eventually found them and yelled at them for locking them up. When the children did not argue back Kathryn was shocked. For a minute she actually considered not punishing them but she assumed this was all an act. She knew her children were most likely trying to con her and she couldn't help but be a little proud that they were so good at it. They were just like her and Sebastian.

She really wasn't planning on punishing them she just wanted them to think she was so they would learn not to disobey her. "I will decide on your punishment tomorrow."

Sebastian shook his head as Kathryn left the kids room. "You're not really gonna punish them, are you?"

Kathryn laughed. "Of course not. But now they'll think twice before pulling a stunt like this again."

The next day the children were still on their best behavior, afraid their mother would punish them. They got up early and when the maid arrived with the morning paper Terrance quickly grabbed it out of her hand and they took it to the living room. As they opened it up they each took a piece.

"Which part is it in?" asked Christina.

"The tabloid part, stupid!"

"I found it! Look, it's that Cecil girl kissing some guy." The kids stared at the picture and laughed "Mommy's going to be so happy!"

"Yeah, we got that bitch good!"

At that moment an upset Cecil arrived at the Valmont home. She had come to confront Kathryn about the pictures. As she entered the living room she overheard the three children talking. "You did this to me?"

They turned around startled. Christina was ready to go into her good girl act but Terrance, taking after his father, proudly said "Yeah. We got you, you fucking bitch!"

Cecil was stunned that such words were coming out of this child's mouth but what did she expect? These were Kathryn and Sebastian's kids. "You little brats! My husband wants to divorce me because of those pictures"

"Good," said Christina. "You shouldn't have kissed our dad."

"You really are little monsters!"

The children only laughed at Cecil. She was fed up and had enough of being kicked around by a bunch of kids. She grabbed Christina by the shoulder and but the child bit her hand. "Ow! You little brat!"

Cecil went to hit her, but was stopped when Kathryn and Sebastian walked into the room. "You lay a hand on my child and I'll make sure you never walk again," ordered an angry Kathryn. She charged up to Cecil and quickly stood between her and Christina.

"Do you have any idea what your kids did to me?"

Kathryn rolled her eyes not really caring. "What?"

She showed her the paper with the picture and Kathryn's face broke into a large smile.

"You think this is funny?"

"Yes, actually. How is this their fault?"

"They did this. They told me so themselves!"

Kathryn knew damn well her kids were smart enough to pull something like this off but Cecil didn't know that and Kathryn didn't want it to get out that her children were that sneaky. "Cecil don't be ridiculous. They're children for God's sake."

"They said they did it!"

Sebastian who had been watching all of this while he poured his coffee said simply, "Do you believe everything a six year old tells you, Cecil?"

Cecil was left speechless and the children just smiled happily. They knew their parents were covering for them which made it all the more funny.

Kathryn glared at Cecil. "Why don't you leave my house now and I don't want to hear you talk to my children like that again, understand?"

Cecil just nodded dumbly and walked out the door.

After she left Kathryn turned back towards the children. "So you pulled this off all on your own?"

"Yes," they admitted happily.

Sebastian looked over at his wife and smiled she returned it. "Well then I think punishment's over. Who wants ice cream?"


	6. Chapter Six

"I don't have school today!" Insisted Christina for what felt like the twentieth time. She had been rudely awakened by Zelda on a Sunday morning.

"It's time to get up. Your mother wants you to get dressed for church," explained Zelda.

"We don't go to church. Daddy says we're all going to Hell anyway" declared Christina. She received a dirty look from her nanny as she helped her into a stylish dress.

"You are not going to Hell. The things you children come up with!"

At her first chance of escape she ran into the spacious dining room. She found her brothers eating breakfast in their suits across from her parents. Christina took her seat, which was in-between her brothers. The three of them laughed as their parents argued.

"I have no desire to sit in church while some asshole preaches."

" This is a charity event we all have to go to. It's good for our public image," said Kathryn.

"Jesus Christ," muttered Sebastian as he continued to eat.

"Do you think we'll have to go?" whispered Soren to his siblings as his parents continued to argue.

"Mom's not backing down on this one," replied Terrance.

"What do you do at church anyway?" asked Christina.

"How the hell would I know?" asked Terrance.

"Well, we'll do what we always do," said Christina.

"Which would be what?" asked Soren.

"You are such a dumb ass," exclaimed Christina.

"And you are such a bitch," retorted Soren.

"Would the two of you fucking shut up. You're giving me a headache," said Terrance.

"We play the perfect children like we always do," announced Christina.

"Yeah, the overly perfect children," muttered Soren.

"Yes, Soren. I am so happy to be sitting next to you," said Christina in a sweet voice.

"Yeah, right," said Soren sarcastically.

"Shut up," said Terrance once more in frustration.

"I'll shut up when she shuts up," said Soren.

"And I'll shut up when he shuts up," said Christina.

"Fine," said Soren."

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Terrence could only imagine what the rest of the day would be like after the way it had already started. He could tell it was going to be a long breakfast between his mother and father arguing as well as his sister and brother.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Sebastian sighed as he sat in the pew. He had listened to a man pray for around thirty minutes. Then he had to listen to the children of the congregation sing 'Jesus Loves Me'. A small smile made its way to his face though when all the children, including his own, had left for Children's church because he didn't miss the smirk on Soren's face.

If one more person came up to him and asked how God was blessing his life he was sure that he would lose it. Every time someone asked him that question he was tempted to tell them the truth. "Well if it wasn't for my wife dragging me here we'd probably still be in bed, fucking each other's brains out, so really God's not doing much for me." He knew he'd never hear the end of it from Kathryn if he did that.

They were now taking people's request for prayer. 'Jesus, how many times can these people pray?' The pastor looked over at Sebastian. "Mr. Valmont will you pray for us?" asked the pastor." "What?" Kathryn gave him a stern look. "Well, I am new here," amended Sebastian.


	7. Chapter Seven Kerimack

As the priest wrapped up his sermon Sebastian let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God that's over."

Kathryn glanced over at her husband and gave him a smile. "Not yet. We still have the brunch after wards."

"Kathryn," Sebastian groaned. "Can we please go home? I've had enough of this togetherness shit. Let's just grab the kids and leave."

"No," she told him sternly. "The whole reason we came to this thing was so we could mingle with these people."

"I don't give a rat's ass about these people," he grumbled.

An older woman in front of them turned around and gawked at Sebastian. "Blow me" Sebastian mouthed.

"Sebastian!" Kathryn warned. "Behave yourself. We'll just stay a little while then you can leave and I promise you never have to come back here again."

"Fine let's go and get this over with." Sebastian took his wife's hand and they went to the large reception hall. There were many round tables set up and a group of people standing in line to greet the minister.

"Let's go say hello," Kathryn suggested.

"No."

"It's polite. Besides everyone else is doing it."

"Then you go. I'll find us a table."

Kathryn left him and joined the line of parishioners that were greeting the minister and his wife.

Sebastian went and found a table that no one was sitting at. He looked at his watch and made a note that they would stay ten, fifteen minutes tops. He briefly wondered how his kids were doing in Sunday school. He was pretty sure they had the teacher tied up by now and were torturing her. He smiled. They really were his children.

An elderly couple sat down next to him and he had to contain the urge to roll his eyes and leave.

"Hello, young man," the elderly man greeted him. "That was quiet a nice prayer you led this morning."

"Thank you" he said through clenched teeth.

"Have you always been a follower of the lord?"

'Have you always dressed like a bible sales man?' Sebastian wondered. "You could say that," he said with fake sincerity.

The old woman then began to ramble on about her grandchildren and Sebastian lost interest. However his interest was peeked moments later when he noticed his wife talking to some handsome young guy. He looked to be about their age, maybe a little older, and he was whispering something in her ear. She laughed and gave him a small sexy smile.

'What the fuck?' Sebastian's insides screamed. 'Is that asshole trying to pick up my wife? Like hell that's going to happen.'

Even though the old woman was still talking Sebastian got up and went to Kathryn and her new friend. Neither seemed to notice him as he approached them.

"Hey!" Sebastian greeted them with a fake smile.

Kathryn turned to him without a trace of guilt on her pretty face. "Sebastian, I

was just saying hello to an old friend. This is Michael Cassidy. Michael, this is my husband Sebastian."

"It's nice to meet you, Sebastian," Michael said with a smile as he extended his hand.

He didn't want to shake this assholes hand put Sebastian wanted to show he wasn't threatened. "You too. How do you two know each other?"

Michael and Kathryn exchanged smiles and she said "We use to...umm...be good friends."

Sebastian glared at her but all she did was stare at Michael. "Oh, I get it. You two used to fuck."

"Sebastian!" Kathryn nearly screamed.

"Excuse me?" asked Michael.

"What am I wrong?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

Sebastian shrugged. "I'm just calling it like I see it. You two obviously look close so tell me, am I wrong?"

"Well..um," Michael mumbled.

Kathryn rolled her eyes at her husband and grabbed him by the arm. "Excuse us for a minute, Michael. I have to go remind my husband how to act in public."

She grabbed Sebastian by the jacket and dragged him into the hall.

"Well that was a little much?"

"A little much? Why do you have to act like such a fucking asshole? You're behaving like a total child. No, I take that back. The children are better behaved than you!"

Sebastian didn't understand why she was upset. He should be the one who was pissed. "You were completely flirting with him."

"I was not!"

"You were too! God, he was drooling all over you it was disgusting. And I know you fucked him so you might as well admit it."

Kathryn rolled her eyes "Fine! I fucked him. Are you happy now? It was way before we were ever together so who gives a fuck."

"I do! You were totally trying to use him to make me jealous."

"What? What the hell are you talking about?"

Sebastian was so angry he had to stop himself from screaming. "You're doing this to get back at me for the whole Cecil thing. I know you Kathryn. This is so like you."

"Are you stoned?"

"No, I'm completely sane."

"I am not using anyone to make you jealous; I thought we were over that whole thing."

"So did I but that's the only reason I can think of why you're throwing yourself at him like a common whore."

Kathryn glared at him and her voice became complete ice. "Excuse me? What did you call me?"

At that moment Sebastian knew he had stepped over a line. "Nothing just forget it."

"No, no I won't forget it. You humiliate me in there and then you have the nerve to call me a whore. You fucking prick!"

"Kathryn look-"

"No, fuck you! Get the kids. We're going home."

So he went to get the kids out of Sunday school and they drove home in silence. Well they were silent anyway. The kids were fighting and complaining about Sunday school. Occasionally Sebastian looked over at his wife but she refused to look at him. He knew this was going to take some serious damage control to make up for what he said to her.

When they got home the kids ran to their rooms and Kathryn headed to hers. When Sebastian tried to follow she slammed the door in his face. He tried to open it but she locked it.

"Come on, Kathryn. I said I was sorry. Please let me in."

"Fuck off" she replied coldly.

"Fine. If you don't unlock the door I'll just go find a key."

"You do that!" she screamed back at him.

As Sebastian went off to find a key Kathryn laughed to herself. She had long gotten over Sebastian's little comment. Hell, he had called her worse before. She was just going to enjoy watching him beg to get on her good side. But she was still pissed at how he humiliated her at brunch. For that she would make him pay. If he thought church was bad, wait until he saw what was in store for him next.

Like expected, Sebastian soon returned with the key and unlocked the door. "I'm coming in," he told her.

When he heard nothing he assumed she had calmed down a little. He opened the door and a glass vase came whizzing by his head.

"Go away!" she ordered him.

"Not until we talk. Throw whatever you like at me. I'm not leaving."

"Fine. I will."

As Kathryn tried to leave Sebastian pulled her back "Come on, Kathryn. What's it going to take? I'll do anything."

"Anything?"

"Yes," he said with a smile.

"Okay," Kathryn said. "Couple's counseling."

"Excuse me?"

"Counseling. We're going."


	8. Chapter Eight

Dinner was so quiet that night at the Valmont house that Soren had to wonder what had happened while they were in Sunday school. The only thing you could hear was the clank of silverware against their plates and the occasional sigh. No one even glanced at each other. It was somewhat disturbing. It had gotten to the point where he couldn't take it anymore,especially since he was used to an environment of constant noise and activity.

"Who fucking died?"

"As you can see, we are all seated at the table for dinner. You can safely assume that none of us are dead," explained Kathryn calmly.

"Then what happened?" he demanded.

"Why don't you ask your mother?" suggested Sebastian tensely.

"I just did," insisted Soren.

"I have decided that your father and I will be going to marriage counseling."

"Why?"asked Terrence and Christina at the same time as they suddenly looked up.

"I feel it's necessary. Therapy is a very good thing. I spoke with Zelda before dinner. She wondered if we were finally getting counseling for all of us. She expressed family therapy would be an even better idea..."Kathryn trailed off.

"She should be fired," said Sebastian.

"You'll do no such thing! She's worked for me since we married." declared Kathryn.

"When do you guys start going?" asked Terrence.

"According to your mother, tomorrow," said Sebastian irritated.

"You promised you'd pick us up after school, Daddy. I don't want Zelda to," explained Christina.

"Then I'll just have to come next Monday and we'll go out to dinner just you and me," said Sebastian.

"Okay,"said Christina with a small smile on her face.

"No, it's not okay! Zelda is always mad at us as soon as we get home,"insisted Soren.

"I can hardly imagine why," said Sebastian sarcastically.

"Not to worry, Zelda will be dropping you off at Blain's," explained Kathryn matter-of-factly.

"Yay!"all three of them exclaimed at the same time.

"So, can we have dessert now?" asked Terrence.

"I suppose," said Kathryn.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Many couples go through what the two of you seem to be going through. At times you may feel as if you cannot connect with your partner,"started out Dr. Johnson.

Sebastian had known that from the minute they had walked into the psychologist's office that it was going to be a long session. He had started with his various accomplishments and about some book he was about to write, and then onto how well his own children were doing in was sure that if he had to hear one more way that their lives compared to that of every other couple he would surely lose it.

"This is just a thought, Dr. Johnson, but perhaps my partner is connecting with someone else," declared Sebastian.

"You'll have to forgive my husband. He seems to suffer from bouts of paranoia from time to time," explained Kathryn.

"I am not paranoid," exploded Sebastian. "She was standing off in a corner with some guy she used to fuck. She was hanging on his every word!"

"I was not," insisted Kathryn, the anger boiling up inside.

"Yes, you fucking did! This is all because of the Cecile thing. You had to get your last word in. Let me tell you something Doc. This woman is a nightmare," declared Sebastian.

"Another problem a lot of couples can have is achieving intimacy," Dr. Johnson went on.

At this Sebastian roared with laughter. He could hardly help himself. If he hadn't thought this shrink was ridiculous before he most certainly did now. "You know we have children. The least of our problems is intimacy. In fact for being married as long as we have, we still have a great sex life."

"I am not talking about sex. I'm talking about intimacy. Sex is not always the answer to everything, Sebastian."

"Why not? Sometimes she gets so pissed that I can hardly control myself," said Sebastian with a sense of detachment.

"Sebastian, Kathryn, I believe that's enough for one session. "

"Are you serious? I was just starting to open up. I really felt I was beginning to have an emotional breakthrough..."

"We'll make more progress next week," said the doctor, confidently.

"Wait, there is one more thing." &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Blaine Tuttle had known Kathryn and Sebastian before they had ever been married. Years ago he had been a drug dealer for the wealthy and the privileged. Kathryn at one time was by far his highest paying customer. Sebastian had been one of his best friends since they had been young. Sebastian had left New York for a couple of years to live with his mother in Europe.

Eventually he had come to his senses and moved back to Manhattan for good. He would never forget the day Sebastian had declared that he had met the anti-Christ. Naturally he had married Kathryn less than a year later. Blaine still lived in his accustomed lifestyle.

Kathryn had demanded that he be her personal assistant for her first New York Fashion Week experience. Apparently the one she had had for six months was incompetent and she had to go. Blaine knew it must have had something to do with her Kathryn's winning personality.

There he had met Antonio, who had more money than he knew what to do with. Months later the two of them had moved in together. It had been that way ever since. If he wasn't very familiar with the Valmont children and what they were truly capable of he would have lost his mind years ago. They were more or less like his niece and nephews and always on their best behavior with him, for the most part. Anything they came up with served as entertainment in his mind.  
Currently he was involved in a very serious game of chess with Terrence. He had stopped allowing him to win a year ago and yet he still managed to lose to the six year old.

"Do you have any idea why your mom is forcing your dad to go to counseling?" he inquired.

"They wouldn't say," admitted Soren as he looked up from his bowl of ice cream.

He had it all over his face and it was quite clear that Christina was disgusted by him.

"What's your problem?" demanded Soren.

"I cannot believe that you are asking me that. Learn to eat your ice cream," said Christina imperiously, reminding Blaine of Kathryn.

"Shut up!"

"So," interrupted Blaine "It's your birthday next week. What's the plan?"

"We're having a party at the house," declared Terrence.

"That should be interesting," commented Blaine.

"I hope so," smiled Christina.

"I about died of laughter when Sebastian told me you guys locked them in their room."

"It was my idea," said Soren proudly.

"Can't say they didn't deserve it," shrugged Blaine.

"Indeed," agreed Terrence before smirking. "Checkmate."

********

"These must be your children. I've heard so much about the three of you. I'm Doctor Johnson."

"It's nice to meet you," said Christina pleasantly as she smirked at her two brothers.

"Well, aren't you going to tell me your name," he asked.

"You already know their names," said Sebastian, clearly irritated.

"Sebastian, we are working to form new habits here. This is Christina's time to talk. When it's your turn, then you can talk."

"You are out of your fucking mind! I'm the one paying for this session," said Sebastian angrily.

"It's okay, Daddy. I'm Christina and this is Soren and Terrence," she indicated to the opposite couch where her mother sat with her siblings. She shared an amused look with Sebastian.

"How old are you, Christina?"

"I'll be seven tomorrow. How old are you?" asked Christina sweetly.

"We're not here to talk about me," he explained patiently.

"Now that we've met you, can we go home?" demanded Soren.

"Yes, Kathryn. Can we go home now?" asked Sebastian sarcastically.

"Soren, apologize this instance. I will not have you acting that way towards someone who is trying to help you," admonished Kathryn.

"Sorry, Mom," responded Soren bitterly.

"See, we are making progress already. Now I got to know your mom and dad last week and now I'd like to just talk with you three alone, if that's alright," the doctor turned to Kathryn.

"That is out of the fucking question," said Sebastian.

"You need to really work on your anger Sebastian and refrain from speaking around your children this way!"

"Do not tell me what to do with my children," said Sebastian standing up.

Kathryn stood up and walked towards her husband with a polite smile on her face. "That's fine with me. Sebastian and I can sit in the waiting area," said Kathryn as she all but dragged her husband out.

No one could ever say that he wasn't concerned about his children or that he wasn't involved in their lives. Christina watched the door shut.

Her mother would always give her advice when they would go shopping together on Saturdays just the two of them. One thing that had been said to her was that every situation was an opportunity. She smiled at Soren and Terrence. They already knew what she was thinking. This didn't have to be boring. The three of them could have a good time.

"So now that it's just us, what would you like to tell me about your family?" asked Dr. Johnson.

"I don't think we should tell you anything," said Soren with an aloof expression.

"I think we should bargain with him," declared Terrence, quickly warming up to the idea.

"Well, what do you wanna know?" inquired Christina.

"What is your home life like?" the doctor asked.

"When did you realize you were attracted to men?" asked Terrence calmly.

"What are you talking about?"

"We can tell. I'd try to set you up with our uncle but he's taken."

"I'm not attracted to men," he exclaimed feeling insulted.

"You wanted to know about our home life?" questioned Christina.

"Yes, that's what we should talk about."

"It's pretty bad," started out Terrence. "My father is a famous photographer. My mother is a famous fashion designer. We have a lot of servants. That about sums up our home life." The smile on Terrence's face was clearly inherited from his father.

"That's not what he meant," said Christina shakily as she began sniffling.

"How are you treated at home?" asked the doctor completely buying Christina's act.

"They never listen to us. I haven't seen my parents all week. It's like we don't exist," said Soren.

"It's sad actually. We're really pretty good kids," said Terrence softly.

"I'm sure you are. They may not be around or listen, but I'm here for you.."

"You mean it?" asked Soren his eyes brightening up.

"Of course," agreed the doctor.

"It'll almost be like you're our father," exclaimed Terrence, trying not to laugh at the horrified expression on the older man's face.

"Well, I've gotten to know the three of you better. I believe that concludes our session," he said tightly.

"I think I could use a hug," said Christina as they all stood up. He gave Christina a small hug she began crying and allowed herself to drool on him before pulling away.

She smirked at Soren who looked like he was going to laugh. "I'm sorry. I just got carried away," explain Christina as she walked through the door. She giggled as Terrence and Soren accidentally stepped on his feet before following her.

"Now, that is one fucked up family," muttered Dr. Johnson as he watched them all leave.


	9. Chapter Nine Kerimack

The next day at the triplets birthday party the family was still barely speaking to one another. Sebastian was pissed that Kathryn was continuing to drag him to that bullshit therapist and Kathryn was still angry about how he embarrassed her at the church brunch. He really thought she was hitting on that guy which is what made her so furious. After everything they had been through, did he really think she would throw it all away to have some fling with a guy she didn't even bother to fuck more than once?

Kathryn had offered to take the children somewhere for their birthday but they insisted on staying home. They wanted to have a party at their house and invite all their friends. Which of course was exactly what she didn't want to do. Although none of the triplet's friends were anywhere near as bad behaved as them, they still acted out of control when they were all together. Kathryn had allowed them to invite ten children, thinking that if they got out of control she would just let the help handle it. Christ, she paid them enough.

The first surprise of the afternoon arrived when the eleventh kid showed up. Then the twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, and so on until there were thirty children running around the house. Kathryn couldn't very well tell the parents that the kids were not invited so she had no choice but to let them in. After the door bell had stopped ringing Kathryn grabbed Terrance and pulled him into the kitchen where the cook and her staff were busily preparing lunch.

"Mom," Terrance complained. "We were right in the middle of the game."

Kathryn glared down at him and he knew immediately what that look was for. He had seen her give it to his father on more than one occasion. "I don't care what you were doing. Who are all these kids? I told you, you could invite ten children. Ten! That was it. And don't give me any of that crap about not being able to count."

Terrance gave her his most charming smile that always reminded her of Sebastian. "I know you said ten people, Mom. But you told me ten people and Christina ten people and Soren ten. We thought you meant we each could invite ten people."

"You know damn well what I meant, Terrance. Ten kids in all, not thirty!"

"Well I guess they'll have to stay now."

"Fine but so help me they better be on there best behavior or- " Kathryn was interrupted by a loud crash in the next room followed by the sound of children laughing. Kathryn winced and Terrance giggled and then ran out of the kitchen. As the door slammed shut Kathryn let out a frustrated groan.

Sebastian then came in the kitchen from the servants entrance.

"Problems, dear?" He asked sarcastically.

"Do you have any idea what your children did?"

He grabbed a piece of food off one of the chef's trays "No but by the look on your face I can tell it's not good. And why is it whenever they do something bad they're my children?"

Kathryn ignored the comment "I told them they could invite ten children. But apparently they took it to mean they could each invite ten children. We now have thirty little brats running around our house." Sebastian smiled and she glared at him.

"You think this is funny?"

"Well you have to admit they are pretty clever. I guess we know they're our kids."

Kathryn's eyes narrowed at him "Having doubts they were yours?"

At that comment Sebastian's smile fell. "I didn't say that but then again you did seem awfully busy with that tennis instructor around the same time you got pregnant."

She had to resist the urge to hit him. "You know what, just stay away from me for the rest of the night."

"With pleasure," Sebastian replied as he brushed passed her and went into the party.

For the next few hours Kathryn and Sebastian didn't speak to each other but instead glared at one another from across the room. The children were completely oblivious because they were too wrapped up in destroying the house. They would run around chasing each other then accidentally knock something down. Kathryn then in turn would yell at the maid for it.

There were three maids, two nannies, and butler and yet no one could control them. They seemed bent on total destruction. Somehow they managed to get them all seated for lunch. The chef and the waiters brought everything out and for about ten minutes everyone was somewhat quiet. That was until Soren called Christina a loud mouth bitch.

Kathryn rolled her eyes "Soren, don't call your sister names."

"But she is!"

"Take it back!" Christina ordered.

Soren only smiled. "No."

"Take it back or I'm going to throw this at you," she told him as she picked up her bowl of ice cream.

"Christina, don't," Kathryn warned.

But she didn't listen and threw it right in her brothers face. He screamed then threw him food at her. Then the table erupted in chaos with all the children throwing their food at one another. The chef began complaining about them ruining her meal and Kathryn tried to calm her down. She stared down at the end of the table and found Sebastian with a big grin on his face. She rolled her eyes then screamed at the top of her lungs, "STOP IT!"

The children were suddenly calm and Kathryn smiled. "If one more piece of food gets thrown everyone leaves. Including you three" she said to her children. They had seen there mother before when she was pissed and knew she meant it.

Suddenly Sebastian spoke up for the first time "Why do they have to stop? They were just having fun."

Kathryn looked over at her husbands smiling face and had to stop herself from screaming. She knew he was only taking their side to make her miserable.

"They have to stop because they're destroying the house," she told him, her voice complete ice.

"Oh come on, Kathryn" he picked up a spoon of ice cream and flung it at her. "Live a little."

The cold ice cream hit her and she let out a startled gasp. The triplets were shocked that their father would do that to their mother but they also found it really funny and began to giggle. Sebastian's smile widened.

"You son of a bitch!"

"It's just ice cream"

Kathryn's face relaxed and she smiled. She then grabbed the punch bowl off the table and walked to Sebastian's end of the table. "I suppose you're right, honey." She then poured the entire punch bowl in his lap. Sebastian jumped as the cold liquid hit his lap. Kathryn smiled and walked to her bedroom.

At this point the children erupted in laughter.

"She really got you, Dad," Soren said, still laughing.

"It's not funny" he said but the children only continued to laugh and started throwing food again.

Sebastian had had enough of Kathryn's ice queen mood and decided to go settle things for good. He stormed into the bedroom and found her in only her bra and underwear.

"What are you doing?"

She glared over at him "You ruined my clothes, moron. I'm changing and if I were you I'd do the same. It looks like you pissed yourself."

Sebastian looked down at the large wet spot on his pants and sighed.

He took off his belt and glared over at Kathryn who was examining her stained dress. "You deserved that, you know."

She looked up furious "I deserved it? Why because of the imaginary affair I'm having?"

He yanked off his shirt "Look me in the eye and tell me you've never cheated on me."

Kathryn let out a frustrated yell. "For the hundredth fucking time I am not cheating on you and I never have! You're the one who can't seem to keep his dick in his pants!"

"Me! I have never cheated on you. Hell, I've never even thought about it!"

"Yeah right. You're around beautiful women all day and you're telling me you've never been tempted?"

"No! Why would I be? I mean look at you. You're perfect. Why would I want anyone but you?"

Kathryn was momentarily startled by this declaration. "But that still doesn't change the-"

She was interrupted when Sebastian came across the room and pulled her into an intense kiss. Ever since the brunch disaster weeks ago they had barely touched each other. She forgot how much she missed the feel of him. As he pulled her towards the bed Kathryn suddenly remembered the children.

"Sebastian the kids-"

"I don't care. I need you now."

Kathryn really didn't want to fight anymore so she let him take her to bed. He laid her down and quickly got on top of her and pulled off her bra. As he sucked and nipped at her breasts her hands quickly discarded his pants and pulled out his erection from his boxers. She wrapped her small hand around him and pumped him as he kissed her neck and fingered her. As soon as she felt his fingers enter her she let out a small gasp.

"Sebastian, please" she begged.

He smiled down at her as she placed his dick at her entrance. He entered her achingly slow as she clenched her muscles around him. He began to thrust inside of her slowly at first but quickly sped up. The two were so lost in each other that they didn't hear the children's footsteps approaching or see them open the door. The triplets and the thirty children watched for a moment and then started giggling.

"What are they doing?" asked one of the kids.

At the sound of there voices Kathryn and Sebastian immediately pulled apart. Kathryn grabbed the blanket and covered herself.

"What the hell? Get out!" she ordered, both shocked and embarrassed.

"They're fucking, stupid" Terrance explained to the kid ignoring his mothers order.

"You guys, out!" Sebastian told them.

"My mother said my father is doing that with our maid," another kid piped in.

Kathryn made a mental note to remember that later on if she had to explain this to any parents. She wrapped the sheet around her and made a shoo-ing motion towards the children. "Get out, get out now before I call your parents."

"Fine," replied Soren and the children started to leave.

Kathryn sighed in relief and the Zora the maid entered "Mrs. Valmont the children-"

"Can't anyone see we want privacy? What now?"

"The children did something to the pool. It's overflowing with bubbles."

Kathryn groaned and collapsed back into the bed.


	10. Chapter Ten

Blaine Tuttle could hear Kathryn ranting and raving from the moment Zelda had escorted him into the Valmont home. As he made his way to the sitting room he observed the massacre the house had turned into. As he entered the room he could see that Kathryn was on a rampage. Watching as she yelled at the triplets, he couldn't help but to feel sorry for them. Blaine could only assume that they were responsible for the state the house was in.

Kathryn was so angry with her children that she was about to break something. She was thrilled when all their unexpected guests went home. The moment she saw her own she quickly became angry again. For the past half hour she had been explaining to them how life as they knew it was over with.

Sebastian was rather amused by the turn of events. To him, it was much better that she yelled at the kids than him. He really admired his children. They hadn't once yelled back at her and they nodded their heads at all of the appropriate moments. Blaine laughed as he took a seat next to him. He might as well watch the show too. As long as he wasn't in the line of fire all would be well.

"She's furious because we told them they could invite ten children. They decided it meant that they could invite thirty children,"explained Sebastian.

Blaine shook his head in wonderment. "Well, I can't say that you and Kathryn don't deserve your children."

"The three of you are in so much trouble!" Kathryn glared at them. She was angrier than the time they had locked Sebastian and her up.

"I told you ten children! Look at this house! It's a fucking mess! What the fuck is wrong with you guys!"

The triplets watched her. A smile came on Soren's face. "What's wrong with us? Why, we're your children," he replied.

Christina's face twisted in a small smile. "You went to each of our rooms and told us we could invite ten children only. Ten plus ten plus ten equal thirty," said Christina.

"Also, we didn't have anymore than thirty children here," said Terrance knowing they knew they were in deep trouble when they saw her angry expression.

"Zelda!" She started screaming until Zelda came into the room. "What are you standing there for? Clean this up!" Zelda stood there with a sense of irritation . This just made Kathryn more mad. "What are you waiting for?"

Zelda immediately started to pick up pieces of glass on the floor. She looked at the triplets disgracefully as she picked up items scattered on the floor. She should be used to this by now. She had been dealing with these children since the day they were born. "Crazy children," she muttered.

"Zelda?"Zelda froze.

Had Mrs. Valmont heard her? If she had what was going to happen? She looked up. "Yes, Mrs. Valmont?"

"Obviously you feel the same way as I do. If they were your children what would you do?" asked Kathryn.

Kathryn stared at her head maid in anticipation. The maid stood up and looked at her mistress. "Mrs. Valmont, if they were my children I would make sure they never pulled a stunt like this ever again! I would let them know that they were in serious trouble," said Zelda as she looked over at the triplets.

"Well we aren't your children," said Christina rudely.

"Sit down," said Terrance. He knew they were already in trouble. He didn't want to make it any worse. Before he knew what was happening Soren was standing up. Terrance rolled his eyes. This situation was really out of his hands at this point. No one could tell him that he hadn't tried to control the situation.

"If we were your children we would punish ourselves."

Sebastian finally interrupted. "I have an idea! How about we don't punish them? They were just having fun and it is their birthday after all. We should let this one slide," said Sebastian.

He received an evil glare from Kathryn. Oh well, he would just make it up to her later.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

If there was one thing that Sebastian hated it was having to pretend to like people that he couldn't stand. If there was one person that he just couldn't stand it would be his mother-in-law. The woman hated him. But, she would always be cordial towards him. Kathryn always accepted her dinner invitations, though he would never understand why.

Tiffani Merteuil had invited all of them over for dinner to celebrate the triplets' birthday. Kathryn had accepted no matter how much of a fuss Sebastian had put up to.

"I wonder if she's getting married again," stated Terrence.

"God, I hope not. The last guy she got married to was as old as Dad,"declared Soren.

"Who cares if she's getting married again? Nothing can compare to our wonderful Grandfather," insisted Christina.

Sebastian and Kathryn smirked at each other as they listened in on their childrens' conversation on the ride over. Sebastian never failed to be amused by his children. He knew that Kathryn felt the same way. He could never resist on joining in on their comments.

"What's wrong with my father?" asked Sebastian as if he were truly offended.

"Lots of things," informed Soren.

"Come on, Daddy," exclaimed Christina as if she were thoroughly put out."His newest wife is old enough to be your sister."

"We're here," declared Kathryn as the limo stopped. "The three of you better be on your best behavior," said Kathryn with a stern expression on her face.

"Okay, Mom," the three of them said in unison.

"Famous last words," muttered Sebastian under his breath. He was just glad that Kathryn hadn't heard him.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Dinner had been positively boring. Tiffini had gone on and on about the different charities she was involved with. When she was done she had informed them of everyone's business. Christina was bored out of her mind.

"Grandmother, earlier you told us that you had news for us," said Christina knowing the quicker they got it over with the quicker they could go home.

"John and I are getting a divorce," declared Tiffini.

"That's supposed to be news," muttered Soren to Christina and Terrence.

"Why?"asked Christina pleasantly.

"When you're older I'm sure that you'll understand," said Tiffini evenly.

"You mean he had an affair?" asked Sebastian innocently.

"We're done with. And I think that you should know your father and I were seeing each other for awhile. We decided to call it off and remain good friends," informed Tiffini.

Both Terrence and Soren looked at each other as if they were about to be sick. This was the worse thing they had ever had to hear about.

"So, it's over now," asked Kathryn praying her mother would agree with her.

"Of course it is. He is married now," said Tiffini as if she were insulted by the thought.

"Too bad for you. I suppose I was just wondering if my children would still be siblings or each-others aunt and uncles," commented Sebastian.

"That's enough, Sebastian. I'm sure this situation is hard enough as it is,"commented Kathryn as she attempted not to roll her eyes.

"Well, it's over now. So, who wants their presents?" asked Tiffini attempting to be pleasant.


	11. Chapter 11Kerimack

A couple of days after the disastrous birthday party the triplets once again found themselves in trouble; this time **at** school. The three attended a prestigious Manhattan private school that both their parents had attended. They were in the secondgrade and all in the same class. The children in the school all came from the same background. All from wealthy families, with parents who were off living their own lives and left the children to be raised by nannies. Terrance, Soren, and Christina were the only children in there class, besides Ezard the foreign kid, whose parents were still married.

The three children hated school, so it was usually quite the battle to get them there in the morning. The school required uniforms which the kids bitched about every day. "This sucks. I hate ties," Soren whined.

"What are you whining about? I'm the one who has to wear this god damn skirt. Mommy, why do I have to wear this? Why can't I wear pants?"

"Because pants aren't lady-like," Kathryn said absent absentmindedly as she looked over her work papers.

"When have you ever been a lady?" Sebastian whispered in her ear as he passed.

Kathryn looked up and gave her husband a sly smile. "Christina, you have to wear a skirt because that's what everyone else does. Besides you don't want to dress like a boy, do you?"

"But Mom it's so ugly. I want to wear a skirt like yours."

Kathryn looked down at her short black skirt and scowled, then looked at Sebastian for an answer. He smiled at his daughter. "Honey, you're not going to wear a skirt like Mommy's until Daddy is dead."

"Okay, you guys are going to be late. Terrance, stop hitting your brother!" Kathryn scolded. The three children plus Kathryn and Sebastian got into the back of the limo. Kathryn and Sebastian would bedropped off after the children. As usual the kids couldn't sit still.

"Can I stay home? I don't feel well," Soren complained.

"You're such a wuss. You just don't want to go to school," Christina said snidely.

"Shut the fuck up!" he yelled back.

"Enough!" both parents said in unison. This verbal battle continued the whole way to school with Kathryn and Sebastian telling them to be quiet every few minutes.

"Finally," Kathryn sighed as they pulled up to the large brick building which was covered in ivy. "Have a good day and try to stay out of trouble."

"Bye!" they yelled as they jumped out of the car. As he passed the driver who was opening the car door Terrence stomped on his foot and then laughed.

Kathryn sighed as she slipped her sunglasses on and Sebastian laughed and said "That's my boy."

The three Valmont children were having a good day until it was time to read. The three hated this part of the day because it was boring and because they were so much more advanced then the other kids in the class. While the other six and seven year olds would slowly try to spell out words, the triplets could easily read whole large passages of adult novels with no problem.

This was the part when they would start to act out. One of the boys would usually beg to read since they could read faster and therefore be done with it. The stern teacher would always just say, "Wait your turn."

So when the teacher said "Take out your books, class," the three let out a collective annoyed groan.

"Fuck this," Terrence whispered to his siblings "I'm going to have some fun."

"Yeah right," Christian scoffed. "You'll get in _so_ much trouble."

She wasn't exaggerating. Ms. Stonewall was known to be one of the strictest teachers in the school. She had a particular dislike for the Valmont children. Not only because of how awful they acted but also because of how they manipulated the other teachers. She would regularly confide in the other faculty members that she thought they were evil.

The first kid to read was Mary Anderson. Mary was the typical brown nose child who delighted in telling on the other students, especially the triplets. Last year, out of revenge, the three locked her up in the janitors closet and refused to tell anyone where she was. It took the adults nearly five hours to find her and when they did little Mary had to be put in counseling.

Like the other students Mary read slow, which just managed to piss Terrence off more. As she slowly spelled out animal, he got an idea. When the teacher wasn't looking he got up from his seat and went to the aquarium were they kept the class frog. Terrance carefully took off the lid and grabbed the creature before he was seen. He then went back to his seat and when the teacher's head was down he put the frog down on Mary's shoulder.

At first the young girl didn't realize it. Then after a second it made a noise and she screamed "Oh my God! Get it away from me!"

The class erupted in laughter, then hysterics when the frog jumped down her shirt. "Get it off! Get it off!" she screamed.

The teacher got up and tried to help but Mary was jumping around too much. The triplets smiled happily then Terrance whispered at his brother to go let out the other animals. Two other frogs, three spiders, a snake, a bunny, and two hamsters got out and started jumping and running every which way.

The room erupted in chaos with the boys running around trying to grab the animals and with the girls standing on top of the desks screaming and yelping. The whole time Ms. Stonewall was screaming for everyone to remain calm and demanding to know who did this.

The triplets had taken this opportunity to sneak out of the class.

"That was so fucking funny," Soren laughed.

"Yeah, that's not all," Terrrance confided. "Look what I got," he said as he held up a book of matches from his pocket.

"Where did you get those?" Christina asked.

"They fell out of dad's pocket. Here you take one and Soren takes one and I'll take one."

"What are we going to do with them?" Soren asked with a devilish smile.

"Hold them over the smoke detectors."

"Why?"

He rolled his eyes. "To set off the sprinkler systems, stupid. Now lets go."

The three each went to a different floor of the building. They had no problem finding the smoke detectors but had a harder time reaching them. Christina used two chairs. Soren used a display table and Terrance climbed on the book case in the library. The three managed to do all of this without being seen.

Like expected all the sprinkler systems went off flooding all three floors. The dean and many of the faculty members tried to figure out what was the cause of it. The whole school had to evacuate the building. At this point every student and teacher was soaked and the dean knew he was going to have a lot to answer to when this was all said and done. Parents were not going to be pleased when they came to pick up there children and they were dripping wet.

A little while later a fire man came out and told the dean that looked like the systems had been set off on purpose.

"By who?" asked the dean.

"I'll tell you who," Ms. Stonewall nearly screamed. "It was them!" She pointed to the three triplets and they only giggled.

"Prove it, you stupid cow!" Soren shot back at her.

"That's it, you three. In my office now. I'm calling your parents"


	12. Chapter 12

The dean watched as Sebastian and Kathryn Valmont walked into his office. He felt a sense of apprehension thinking back to previous meetings he had to have with the two of them regarding their children. It wasn't their mother so much that was responsible for his anxiety as it was their father. Sebastian had made it known that if it were up to him he would no longer be in charge of his childrens' education. He was more or less infamous for his temper.

Sebastian observed the dean closely as he took a seat across from him. If his wife thrived on power, he could not exist without it. He tried not to laugh as he saw just how much control he had over him. If the older man didn't want to aggravate him, he really needed to stop making it so easy.

Soren and his siblings watched the meeting from outside of the office with a sense of anticipation. They already knew that they were not going to be punished. There was no evidence whatsoever that they were responsible for the state the school was in. It could have been anyone. He also knew that his father would not allow them to be blamed for it.

"Why do you always insist on blaming my children every time something goes wrong in your school? Do you honestly believe that any seven-year-old could pull this off? I realize that my children are quite brilliant but even something like this is above their heads," explained Sebastian slowly.

"Sebastian, try not to be upset with him. We are here to get to the bottom of this. If they are guilty we will find out and they will be severely punished. If they aren't we will find out and the dean will issue an apology to them," said Kathryn with fake sincerity.

The dean nodded his head to all the parts except the last one. He had no desire or intention of apologizing to them. He already knew that the three of them were guilty. Everything that went wrong in the school was somehow their fault in some shape or form.

"It's clear that Ms. Stonewall has something against our children. She's always accusing them of doing things they clearly didn't do," Sebastian ranted. "I think I should call my lawyer and save all of us a lot of time."

Kathryn, Christina, Soren, and Terrance had to control their laughter. If they all didn't know Sebastian as well as they did they would have believed him. He could be very convincing when he wanted to. A slow smile played on Christina's face. She already knew how this situation was going to play out. No one ever told her Daddy no.

"Really, Mr. Valmont, that won't be necessary," said the dean.

"Really? How do I know that? I mean, you are suspending my kids with no proof that they were responsible. I really think I would like my lawyer's opinion in this matter," said Sebastian.

"They should go home for the day just like every student here is," reasoned the dean.

Sebastian nodded his head in fake sincerity but he couldn't help the small smile that stretched across his handsome face. What was the point to these meetings? They all ended in the same way. There was nothing that satisfied him quite like winning a battle, no matter how small it was.

"I think so too."

"I will also remove the detention," replied the dean.

The five of them got up and left the office. They walked to the limo. The second they were safely inside, the triplets finally burst. The day had been the best one so far of the entire school year.

"You guys flooded the entire school? I can't believe the three of you," muttered Kathryn.

"Don't be so surprised, Mom. We had to do something. Ms. Stonewall wouldn't shut her trap! She was becoming one annoying bitch," insisted Terrance.

He received a smirk from Christina.

"Gee, you think," she asked sarcastically.

"We did everyone a favor," informed Soren with a larger than life grin on his face.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Kathryn waited in her office for Annette Clifford to arrive. From the moment that Annette had requested a meeting with her she had felt a sense of irritation. Did she not realize that she had a multimillion dollar company to run? The only time Annette requested a meeting with her was to talk about her various charities in which Kathryn had little to no interest in. She was assured that no one could blame her.

She watched as Annette walked in with a big smile on her face. She was dressed in a simple outfit and Kathryn couldn't believe the woman had the gall to wear something so cheap in the midst of a successful fashion designer. She motioned for Annette to sit down and then braced herself. She already knew that it was going to be a long afternoon.

"I'm here to ask for your help. It involves a project ten of my students are participating in," Annette started.

"I'm intrigued. Please continue," invited Kathryn.

"I'm taking my students to Hawaii to help out at a local school for a week. I'd really like your assistance," said Annette.

"I'll do what I can to help."

"I would love it if you came with us," informed Annette.

"As much as I would like to I need to spend as much time with my family as possible," said Kathryn hiding her displeasure.

"I completely understand."

"These are the most precious years of my children's lives. I don't want to miss out on a moment. I'm very sorry, but I'll help you in any other way possible," promised Kathryn.

"Hawaii really would be the perfect family vacation," declared Annette as a smile broke out on her face. "I'm sure that you've been there before."

"We have a house there. My only problem is Sebastian's crazy work schedule," explained Kathryn.

"I think a vacation would be good for your family. Ask him to take that week off," suggested Annette.

Kathryn contemplated her options. The last thing in the world that she really wanted to do was assist some overly privileged teenagers on how they should give back to others. But at the same time this would be really good for her family's image. She really could do with some time off and she knew how much her children loved Hawaii.

"I think it's a great idea. I'm grateful that you're giving my family this opportunity. I believe that all of your students will take something special from this experience."

"Thank you so much, Kathryn."

"How is Ronald these days?" asked Kathryn.

"He's really happy. The students at Manchester just adore him. I'm happy that that misunderstanding with Cecil Reynolds was cleared up," smiled Annette.

"I'm so glad to hear that."

"I should be going now. We'll talk soon about the details," promised Annette as she made her way to the door.

Kathryn rolled her eyes after her office door shut. She took a generous drag from her cigarette as she considered her conversation with Annette. The only obstacle in her way was Sebastian. But when it came to her husband she was known to be quite persuasive.

&&&&&&&&

"Alright, that's enough for one day," declared Sebastian as he put his camera down.

The two models he had been working with that day grabbed their things and left his studio. His assistant gave him a small wave before leaving as well. He couldn't help the smirk the made its way to his face as she escaped. She had learned quickly that if she were to stay for even a minute longer he would find some last minute work for her to do.

He took his time putting away the various equipment that had been used for the shoot that day. He did his best thinking at the end of the day before he went home. It never failed to amaze him how normal his life was in so many aspects.

He owned a successful business, he was married to the only woman he was capable of loving, and had three amazing children. If someone had told him years ago that this would be his life one day he would have thought that that person was insane.

"Knock, knock," Kathryn called out in a sing song voice. Sebastian watched as she walked into the studio, locking the door behind her.

"I thought that you had an important meeting. What are you doing here?"

"You're not happy to see me," pouted Kathryn.

"I'm always happy to see you," smirked Sebastian as he walked over to her.

"My sentiments precisely. I canceled my meeting and decided to surprise you," declared Kathryn as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Just as she was about to kiss him, Sebastian slightly pulled away.

"What are you up to?" he inquired suspiciously.

"I can't just surprise my husband after a long day of work," asked Kathryn with a small smile on her face.

"Let's try this again, Kathryn. What do you want?" asked Sebastian as he wrapped his arms around her.

"It's quite simple, really," explained Kathryn. Her voice dropped to a husky whisper. "I want you. Right here. Right now."

"And I want you too," laughed Sebastian. "But, first, I want to know what you're up to."

Kathryn pulled away from him, putting some distance between the two of them. Sebastian fought to control his laughter at the angry expression on her beautiful face. Didn't she know that after all this time that he was always aware of when she had an ulterior motive?

"I think we need a vacation..."

"I'm completely booked for the rest of the year. But, in a month I'm taking two weeks off," explained Sebastian.

"That's perfect since we're not leaving until the month is over," explained Kathryn.

"What aren't you telling me?" asked Sebastian skeptically.

"Annette came to my office today..."

"I want nothing more to do with Ronald, Annette, Court, or Cecile!"

"This has nothing to do with revenge this time," insisted Kathryn.

"Thank god for small favors," came Sebastian's sarcastic reply.

"Annette is taking a group of her students to Hawaii. They're going to help out less fortunate children at some school out there," informed Kathryn.

"We're not going. That's final," declared Sebastian, preparing himself for the debate he knew would come.

"I've already told her that we would do it. I even took the liberty of speaking with Zelda about our upcoming trip..."

"You did all of that before talking to me about it?" demanded Sebastian ready to explode.

"I'm telling you now, aren't I? Their trip is for a week. All that she's asked is that we do a couple one hour shifts. The kids are excited about this trip," explained Kathryn knowing that Sebastian would now agree to going.

"Is there anyone who didn't know about this excursion before me? What ever happened to our 'open line of communication'?" asked Sebastian, mocking their therapist.

"Calm down. Zelda and Mary have offered to come along to help us with the kids."

"I cannot imagine either of the them offering to go anywhere with us. I'm going to assume you told them that they had to go."

"That's really beside the point. Think of all the fun that we are going to have together," reasoned Kathryn.

"Do I have a choice?" asked Sebastian.

"Not really. So, what were we saying about anytime, anywhere?" asked Kathryn suggestively.

Sebastian pulled Kathryn's body against his own before roughly kissing her. She happily returned his kiss. She loved getting her way almost as much as she loved Sebastian.

&&&&&&&&

"What do you want to do first when we get there?" asked Soren as he sat next to his siblings on his father's private jet.

"I'm going to get a tan," declared Christina.

"We already know that! I wasn't even talking to you! I was talking to Terrence!"

"Fuck you, Soren! I'll tell you exactly what you'll do when you get there! You're going to get eaten by a shark and then I'll never have to see your stupid face again," Christina shot back.

The two of them began yelling at each other back and forth. They didn't seem to notice the way the flight attendant and their nannies were looking at them.

"They always behave like this," Terrence confided to the flight attendant. "It's actually worse at home."

"Would you like a soda?" she asked.

"Yes, please," he replied offering her a charming smile.

Sebastian and Kathryn sat on the other side of the plane, listening to their two children who seemed to constantly be at war with each other. For most of the trip she had been so consumed with work papers that she had chosen to ignore their bickering. After looking over at Sebastian who just rolled his eyes Kathryn decided that she had had enough.

"Be quiet, all of you," said Kathryn sternly.

"Mom, I didn't do anything," insisted Terrence, for once in his life truly being innocent.

"I do not care, Terrence! I don't want to hear one more word until we land!"

"But that's like five hours!" Soren cried.

"Have I made myself clear?"

All three of them were taken aback by her tone. She didn't get angry with them very often. She would yell at them all the time, but she wasn't really mad. This time they understood she meant business.

"Sorry, Mom," they muttered. They were more or less quiet for the rest of the trip, barely even whispering to each other. Every once in awhile they would look over at their mother who had gone back to her work.


	13. Chapter 13

As soon as the town car pulled up to the house, Christina could not get out of it fast enough. The flight to Hawaii had been about ten hours long. Although her mother had scolded her and her brothers earlier, she knew that she was impressed that they had manged to remain quiet for the rest of the trip.

She couldn't stop the smile that made its way to her face as she looked up at the house. Though the house was small, only having five bedrooms, this was one of her favorite places that her parents brought them to.

The third story had a balcony the wrapped around the entire length of the house. After her brothers fell asleep she would sneak up there to find either her mother or father having their last cigarette of the night. They would always tell her she should be in bed, before engaging her in a long conversation.

Her brothers loved that there was an indoor and outdoor pool. The two of them were so stupid in that way. It didn't take much to excite them. She wouldn't even bother to remind them that they had an indoor and outdoor pool at home in New York.

"Let's go swimming," insisted Soren as they all walked into the house.

"Sebastian, why don't you go with them? I need to speak with Zelda and Mary," explained Kathryn.

"But, Mom," complained Soren.

"We'll go to the beach together this week," she promised him, making her way upstairs, where she found Mary and Zelda putting away Christina's things.

"Would you like for me to make you something to eat?" asked Mary as Zelda put one of the suitcases in the closet.

"I wanted to give both of you instructions for the upcoming week. The two of you know we came down here to help Annette, but that's just for a couple of days."

"Tell us whatever you need for the next two weeks," said Zelda as Mary nodded her head in agreement.

"I'm giving the both of you two days off," explained Kathryn.

"Thank you," they both replied.

"I know I can count on the two of you to resume your responsibilities after that."

As Kathryn walked out of Christina's bedroom both of the nannies shared a look, trying their best not to laugh out loud.

"She's giving us two days off?" asked Mary somewhat surprised.

"She must be in a good mood suddenly," commented Zelda indifferently.

"I'm just surprised. In the last two years since I've started she's rarely too happy with us," explained Mary.

"I've worked for her since they married. Learn to expect the unexpected. Her good mood won't last for long. Let's enjoy it while we can."

&&&&&&

Kathryn went outside towards the pool an hour later. Christina was on Sebastian's shoulders attempting to pull Terrence in the pool. Despite their efforts, he remained at the pool's edge with only his feet in the water. Close by Soren laid out on an inflatable pool float.

"It's time to get out of the pool," commanded Kathryn.

"Why, Mom?" asked Soren.

"Yeah, why?" asked Christina although she was already making her way to the steps.

"We're having dinner with Annette and her students in about an hour," informed Kathryn as she watched them begin to dry off.

"Do we have to go? When we met her she never stopped smiling. I wanted to ask if it hurts her face," declared Christina.

"Of course it doesn't hurt," replied Terrence as he rolled his eyes. "Let's get ready. The sooner we go the sooner we can come back."

Sebastian and Kathryn watched their children go to their rooms before going to their own. To put it mildly Sebastian was less than thrilled with their dinner plans.

"Why are we having dinner with Annette and her students?" demanded Sebastian.

"When all of you were in the pool she called me. What was I supposed to tell her, no?"

"Yes! That's exactly what you were supposed to tell her! You're just doing this to torture me," insisted Sebastian.

"How did you ever guess?" came Kathryn's sarcastic response as she began to look at dresses for the evening.

"I don't want to spend the night with a bunch of half witted teenagers."

"Oh, please. Listening to Annette go on and on about her various charities will be the nauseating part," said Kathryn.

"We better be back here in less than two hours," warned Sebastian.

"We'll stay about an hour. We happen to have young children with a bedtime," said Kathryn with a sarcastic smile.

"I see your point."

"Stop sulking, Sebastian and kiss me," said Kathryn suggestively.

"Well, maybe this evening won't be a complete waste..."

"You can kiss me anywhere," declared Kathryn.

"Can I kiss you here?"

She smiled as Sebastian got down on his knees with an innocent expression on his face.

&&&&&&

Sebastian and Kathryn walked into the restaurant with their children. They were escorted towards a backroom where Annette sat with her students. As soon as Annette saw the five of them she got out of her seat and made her way over to them. She hugged all three children before hugging Sebastian and Kathryn.

"How was the flight?" she asked.

"Really long," volunteered Soren.

"I'm glad that you're here," commented Annette as she led them over to the long table. "Guys, this is Mr. and Mrs. Valmont. And these are their triplets Terrence, Christina, and Soren," Annette announced.

A tall boy who looked about sixteen or seventeen stood up. Judging by the look in Annette's eyes, this one was clearly her favorite. What a loser, thought Kathryn as she continued to smile as he shook hands with her and Sebastian.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Valmont. I'm John."

"You may call me Kathryn."

He motioned for all three children to sit by him, where there were an assortment of toys, coloring books, and magazines to keep them entertained. Kathryn had to grudgingly admit that the young man was smart to do so.

"Well, you just met John. This is Ashley, Nicole, Jasmine, Marie, Lea, Jason, Xavier, Paul and Christopher," said Annette motioning at each student. "Don't worry, there won't be a quiz at the end of the dinner."

After everyone was seated and dinner had finally been served, Annette went into further detail about what her students would be doing for the next week. Everyone listened to her intently and curiously.

"The public school system here is really bad. With all the money we've been raising since the start of the school year, we're able to buy new play ground equipment, basic school supply essentials, but the best part is the tutoring center we'll help to build. People have been so generous with their contributions."

"All of us are going to go to the elementary school everyday we're here. The guys are going to build the tutoring center while we help the teacher's out in their classrooms with the kids," explained Marie as she handed Christina a lollypop.

"We'll also play with them a lot during their lunch and snack times," included Annette.

"What am I going to have to do?" Soren asked boldly, ignoring the admonishing look from his mother.

"For the next two days all three of you can come to the school around lunch time and play with the kids. They have one class after that and if you want you can help the teacher," suggested Annette smiling as Soren nodded his head in agreement.

"We can do that," announced Terrence, causing a couple of the students to laugh.

"But on the other days you won't mind if we stay home, right?" asked Soren sweetly.

"Of course not," smiled Annette.

"Thank you for allowing us to help," said Christina, causing Sebastian to roll his eyes.

"What will Kathryn and I be doing?"

"The girls need supervision when they assist in the various classrooms. If you could do it for a couple of classes over the next two days it would mean the world to me," stated Annette.

"What are you going to be doing?" asked Sebastian curiously.

"I'll be assisting the guys as they build the center," replied Annette.

"We'd be happy to help in anyway you need," smiled Kathryn.

"I'm so grateful to all of you. In two days Ronald will come down here with both of my parents. At that point they can take over your tasks," explained Annette.

"That's just wonderful," commented Sebastian as he stared at Kathryn purposefully.

"I don't wish to leave so abruptly but we really must get these three to bed," declared Kathryn.

The triplets had wanted to stay longer so they could continue to play but after a look from their mother they quickly complied. Everyone had to say goodbye to each other before they could leave. In Sebastian's mind they couldn't get home soon enough.

&&&&&&&&

"Who would have ever thought that our children would enjoy charity work?" commented Sebastian motioning to the field where the kids were involved in an intense game of soccer.

For the past two days that Sebastian and Kathryn had volunteered at the school, they had gone with a couple of the girls to the various classrooms they had agreed to help out in. Kathryn had gone to get Marie and Nicole from English for lunch only to find that Sebastian had more or less taken over the class, educating the teacher about the great American classics.

"I'm more concerned with the fact that you missed your calling in life," said Kathryn.

"What are you going on about?" asked Sebastian, becoming bored.

"You should have been a teacher," mocked Kathryn as Annette approached the two of them.

"The two of you have amazing children," declared Annette. "Yesterday they insisted upon helping put together the school supplies. Terrence made sure everything was evenly distributed. Today both of your sons taught a lot of the kids how to play the new games, while Christina attempted to teach a couple of girls a little bit of French!"

"That sounds like my kids," said Sebastian with a sarcastic smile.

"How many languages do they speak all together?" inquired Annette.

"They speak English, French, Italian, they learned Spanish from their two nannies, and then Vietnamese from one of my mother's maids," explained Kathryn.

"Ronald and my father should be here any minute, so if you wanted to leave now that would be fine," offered Annette.

"If I wasn't so tired we would have loved to stay the rest of the day," said Kathryn.

"I can only imagine. I hope you're not worn too out," said Annette sympathetically.

"Feeling this tired is perfectly normal for the first trimester of any pregnancy,"informed Kathryn.

"I did not know you were pregnant! Congratulations," exclaimed Annette.

"Thank you very much. Perhaps we can get together again before you return to New York," suggested Kathryn.

"We're gonna get the kids and go home, if you don't mind," stated Sebastian, ready to leave.

"Of course not," said Annette as the two of them took off.

"That was the best you could come up with? I must admit that I'm disappointed in you," said Sebastian as they walked over to the soccer field.

"Perhaps it was an excuse, but not a lie. Congratulations, Sebastian," smirked Kathryn. "You're about to become a father again."

Kathryn laughed as she took in Sebastian's unreadable facial expression. She had rendered him speechless. It thrilled her to no end that after all of these years she could still manage to surprise him. &&&&&&

The triplets had had such a great time in Hawaii that they were almost sad to be leaving. It was a tradition to have a special dinner the last night. Kathryn had ordered Zelda to cook all of their favorite foods.

Looking back at this night in the future the three of them would wonder how they couldn't see that their parents would be delivering life changing news. Things had been too peaceful on this trip for something not to have been up.

"Did all of you have a good time?" inquired Kathryn.

"The best," Soren and Christina enthusiastically said at the same time.

"I had fun," commented Terrence.

"I'm glad to hear that because you're back in school on Monday," declared Kathryn smiling at the groans that preceded afterward.

"Now I know why we're having the last supper," laughed Terrance.

"Tonight is somewhat different," said Sebastian.

"How is it different?" asked Christina as she closely studied both of her parents.

"We're going home tomorrow, right?" demanded Soren.

"Of course we are," said Terrence annoyed.

"Can you just tell us already?" asked Christina.

"You'll find out sooner or later so I might as well tell you. I'm pregnant which means your going to have a younger sibling," informed Kathryn.

They muttered words of congratulations before turning back to their food. They were more or less quiet for the rest of the meal. If either parent asked them a question it was answered with one or two words.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Terrence was beginning to get dizzy as he watched his sister walk back and forth for the past fifteen minutes in deep thought. Soren sat on the couch in their playroom with a scowl on his face and for once had nothing to say.

In their own way each of them was deciding what could possibly be done about the fact that their mother was going to have another child.

"I don't want Mommy to have the baby," declared Christina as she sat next to Soren.

Terrence sat on the other side of her. He had to attempt to reason with the two of them if at all possible. He had always been the most sensible one out of the three of them.

"I know that you don't, Christina. None of us do. But, what choice do we really have?" asked Terrence as he studied the both of them.

"We could get rid of it," suggested Soren, finally looking up.

"How?" asked Christina, irritation lacing her voice.

"I don't know," he exclaimed.

"What else is new?" questioned Christina.

"We obviously can't get rid of it. We have to accept it so that we can deal with it," explained Terrence.

"We cannot do that!" exclaimed Christina. "What's going to happen to us? In case you don't get it, we were here first! What if they forget all about us?"

"I find that impossible to believe," said a voice from the doorway of the playroom.

All three of them looked at each other in fear, already contemplating a story that would get them out of this mess. In the end they turned back to their father with guilty expressions on their faces.

"I heard the whole conversation," stated Sebastian.

He closed the door behind him as he fully entered the room. He studied his children before sitting in the chair that was positioned by the couch. All three of them were sitting stiffly next to each other, side by side. Sebastian would never tell them that that's how he always knew if they were guilty of something. They finally looked up at him, realizing he wasn't mad at them.

"Well, Christina's right," insisted Soren defensively.

"Soren," warned Christina.

"Would the two of you just shut up?" demanded Terrence.

"But, she is right! You and Mom will forget all about us! You'll be too busy," said Soren loudly.

Zelda quickly rushed into the room to see what had happened in her absence. She had been able to hear Soren's voice down the hallway without Christina's following. Something bad must have happened to him.

"What is going on here?" she demanded.

"I'll take it from here," announced Sebastian as he motioned for her to leave.

"Look, Dad. It's just going to take us awhile to adjust," explained Terrence logically.

"Yeah, I really don't want to talk about this right now," agreed Christina.

"I suppose we'll talk about this later then," asked Sebastian.

"Okay," they all agreed as they watched their father walk towards the door.

"I did come here to see who wanted to go to see a movie. But, obviously you're too busy," smirked Sebastian as he put his hand on the door.

"Wait," the three them insisted.

Sebastian was thoroughly amused by his childrens' fears. A psychologist could write an entire book on the many things that were wrong with him and Kathryn. But, they both loved their children more than anything. And he knew that the triplets, would in turn, love this child just as much.


	14. Chapter 14

11 years later:

Christina Valmont understood many things at a young age that took other children a bit longer to comprehend. Two of the things that she had learned were that she was prettier than the other girls and that her family had more money than most people. She felt a sense of power knowing that everyone wanted to live her life.

She had everything an eighteen year old girl could possibly desire and money was never an object. Though she lived a privileged lifestyle, Christina was quite confidant that no one else would have been up to the task. She couldn't imagine anyone else wanting to be responsible for all three of her brothers.

Terrence Valmont had always been her favorite partner-in-crime. He was just as brilliant and manipulative as she was. Unlike her though, he was somewhat reserved and always calm. He looked at life as a chessboard, assessing every piece carefully before making a move. As logical as he was Terrence never could seem to tell her no when she asked for his assistance in one of her schemes. The two of them took pride in their pristine reputations.

Soren Valmont was an enigma to everyone around him, especially the female population at Manchester. He was as handsome as he was devious, having a reputation that only rivaled their father's when he had attended. She knew the main reason she and him were constantly at odds was greatly contributed to their similar personalities. It wasn't so much their reputations that separated their makeup as it was his reckless behavior.

Every once and awhile someone would bring up her father's behavior during high school. He was more or less a legend. Soren was often compared to him, but Christina believed that after tonight he may have made a name for himself. Earlier that evening her mother had called her from France informing her that he had been arrested for driving under the influence, among other things.

"Soren has always been a very troubled person. He hasn't been taking his medication like he's supposed to be. I'm going to take him straight home as soon as he's released," promised Christina as she smiled brightly at the officer who sat across from her.

"He seems to have sobered up at this point and he physically seems to be fine. Your father's jaguar on the other hand..." Trailed off the officer, missing her astonished facial expression. "I'm sure your father won't be too happy when he hears about this."

"You've dealt with my father on various occasions. Unfortunately you've seen first hand that he has a temper," explained Christina sweetly.

"I have," admitted the officer. "I suppose it must be different for you since you are his daughter."

A genuine smile formed on her face. She was her father's princess and could do no wrong in his eyes. Christina remembered when her mother revealed she was going to have a fourth child. She ended up with another brother, luckily for the fourth Valmont child. There could only be one daddy's girl, but another brother to take care of, one she could mold and shape? That didn't seem so bad.

Dominic Valmont was always in some sort of trouble and believed that if he just smiled the right way, all would be forgiven. He had all of their characteristics and used them to his advantage. He had been left inside of her brand new Mercedes because he had been on the phone with their mother. Christina's instructions had been perfectly clear. He was to come inside the minute he got off of the phone. She had gone as far as to tell him exactly which officer she would be talking to.

Later, he would give some bullshit excuse about only being eleven-years-old and that she should really take that into consideration before asking him to do things. At that point he would smile and insist that she really expected too much from him.

Christina lost her train of thought as they brought her brother out from the holding cell. As their eyes met a cruel smile touched her lips. She observed the scowl the officer directed at him. Apparently, he hadn't become too popular in his short stay.

"You said I was mentally incompetent?" demanded Soren loudly.

"Let's go. You're making a scene. Besides, I left Dominic in the car by himself," explained Christina as they walked out.

"Send Terrence next time,"ordered Soren as he glared at his sister.

"Oh, I tried to get him to come this time. I could have left you here for the night. I believe a thankyou is in order," she smiled.

"Over my dead body," laughed Soren as he smiled back at Christina before wrapping an arm around her shoulders as they walked down the steps.

"Are you still under the influence?" Asked Christina in a mockingly sweet voice.

"Shut up," said Soren as he got into the car.

"What took you guys so long?" demanded Dominic from the backseat. "I thought I was going to have to drive myself home. Soren always tells me you're never too young to learn."

"Dominic learns everything he shouldn't do from you. You're such a bad example," commented Christina as she rolled her eyes.

"Well, luckily he has his wonderful sister. You're an excellent role model for him," responded Soren sarcastically.

"I'm so glad that we agree. Though I manipulate every idiot I know, I don't ever put myself in a position to get arrested!"

"Why are you being so dramatic, Christina?" questioned Soren.

"You embarrassed me," insisted Christina angrily.

"What are you going on about?" asked Soren, pretending to yawn.

"I had to leave a charity dinner hosted by Court and Cecile Reynolds if you must know," she sighed.

"You should thank me then!" smirked Soren.

"I was supposed to make a speech on behalf of Manchester, asshole!"

"Just shut up! I don't even want to talk to you anymore," insisted Soren.

"Do not order me around! You are in my car!".

"Not by choice," exclaimed Soren angrily.

"You're such an idiot," said Christina shaking her head.

"I said to be quiet," yelled Soren.

"And I told you that you're in my car, though if you want to walk I won't stop you!"

Dominic chose to remain quiet in the backseat. He had learned that it was in his best interests not to interrupt them. He always allowed Terrence to mediate. And this time was no different as Dominic called him, putting him on speaker phone.

"You are picking him up next time, no matter what you happen to be in the middle of. If he doesn't control himself I'll make him walk," threatened Christina.

"I cannot tell you how happy it makes me to hear that Soren can hold his liquor and our dear sister doesn't have a temper, but let's discuss how furious Mother and Father are," said Terrence.

"Do go on," encouraged Christina with an eager smile on her face.

"Some asshole ran into me. It wasn't my fault!"

"Of course it wasn't. In any event I spoke with Mother about the situation," informed Terrence.

"You are so in trouble when you get home," teased Dominic with an evil smile.

"Says who?" demanded Soren.

"Come home and we will discuss everything,"said Terrence as if he were talking to three five-year-olds. In his opinion he might as well have been.

Christina had expected to find Terrence waiting for the three of them in the sitting room with his usual bored expression. They entered the room to find it empty. The three of them looked at each other with amusement as a loud voice suddenly came from Terrence's room. They could hear their brother's latest conquest screaming at him.

"I gave you my virginity!"

"You will never know how much that meant to me! I've recently realized that I'm not ready to get involved in anything serious," explained Terrence looking remorseful.

"Who is she? I'm going to kill her."

"Let's not jump to such drastic measures. I'm going to walk you to the door and we'll talk about this on Monday at school," promised Terrence, desperate to get her out of his room.

He stared at her with a horrified expression as she lifted up her shirt, revealing a tattoo that somehow had escaped his attention earlier that evening. In dark handwriting on her upper left shoulder it read 'Sarah Valmont'. He really needed to stop sleeping with the crazy ones.

His father had had countless conquests before he met his mother. His father had realized that he had found his equal. Terrence searched for his equal in every mentally unbalanced girl he slept with, whether he knew it or not.

He closed the front door behind Sarah before making his way towards the sitting room. Terrence already knew this was going to be a long night. His three siblings were clearly incapable of functioning on their own. He watched as they looked at him before hysterically laughing.

"Did she show you the tattoo?" asked Christina, not bothering to hide her curiousity.

"You knew about the tattoo?" asked Terrence incredulously.

"Of course I did. She showed it to me after gym yesterday. She told me that she couldn't wait for us to become sisters," explained Christina haughtily.

"What was tattooed on her?" asked Dominic curiously.

"You don't want to know," insisted Terrence.

"Terrence, would you please tell him what the tattoo said? Perhaps he can learn from your errors," said Christina pointedly.

"On her shoulder it now says 'Sarah Valmont'," admitted Terrence reluctantly.

"Oh, you're shitting me," laughed Dominic.

"I shit you not," responded Terrance.

"I don't know. That's kind of hot," admitted Soren with a smirk on his face.

"So when's the wedding?" asked Christina with a delighted smile on her face.

"There will be no wedding. I broke it off with her," informed Terrence, matter-of-factly.

"I really thought that you kids would have made it," said Soren sarcastically. "Onto more important things. We need to discuss Christina's temper tantrum in the car," he grinned.

"No, we don't. Let's discuss the fact that you were driving under the influence," said Terrence, rolling his eyes, hoping he had prevented another fight from transpiring. "I cannot wait until you talk to our mother. She's not exactly happy with you right now."

"Mother will get over it as she always does. I cannot wait for Dad to find out you crashed his 1956 Jaguar Roadster. Nothing surprises me and I must admit I was shocked," laughed Christina.

"He's not going to find out," declared Soren arrogantly.

"That's impossible," responded Dominic insistently.

"What on earth is your plan of attack?" asked Christina skeptically.

"By the time they come back from France it'll be fixed... I have a couple weeks."

They watched as the door at the side entrance was suddenly opened by Zelda who was clearly upset. She had taken care of them their entire lives. Nothing affected her because she had seen it all with them. Soren and Dominic looked at each other wondering what could have possibly happened. Terence knew that whatever was going on couldn't be good especially since Christina wore a wicked smile on her face.

"Is something the matter, Zelda?" asked Christina sweetly.

"I just got off the phone with your father... I cannot believe you were stupid enough to steal his car, drink and drive it! I don't believe he's ever been this angry before. He told me that if you don't call him right now he's going to call that boarding school Mrs. Caldwell always tells him about," declared Zelda.

"You fucking bitch! What the fuck did you do?" yelled Soren glaring at Christina.

"I didn't do anything, asshole! You did! When you were arrested our parents were called. The officer told me they had spoken to Mother. I can only assume they spoke to Father as well..."

"He's going to kill me," insisted Soren.

"Oh, and there's one more thing before I leave for the night," began Zelda, suddenly stopping at the door.

"There's more?" asked Terrence, beginning to wonder if it was too late for him to get adopted.

"You're Mother has decided that your father and her are going to renew their wedding vows in two months to celebrate their twentieth anniversary."

"They're getting married again," asked Dominic, somewhat confused.

"I believe in two months you will have your answer. Goodnight" declared Zelda as she shut the door behind her.

"He's going to send me to boarding school," declared Soren.

"I swear he won't," promised Christina.

"How do you know that?"

"I'm going to call him right now. Make sure you call Mother while I'm on the phone with him. He won't send you away."

"What about me?" demanded Dominic.

"We're going to shoot some pool in the basement while you explain your latest detention to me," declared Terrence.

The triplets had discovered the basement years ago when they were hiding from one of the maids. Over the years it had been converted into a game room as well as a library of sorts. It had always been Soren's place of solace whether anyone was there or not.

His conversation with his mother required him to make a lot of empty promises and apologies for his behavior. When he had finished she had laughed at him, admitting if she had been anyone else she would have found his speech moving. It was more or less a waste of time for the both of them because she always knew when he was lying.

When he had brought up the fact that his father was threatening boarding school she couldn't stop laughing. She expressed her gratitude that he had children who took him seriously because she didn't. His mother had calmly explained to him that he was in the middle of his senior year and had been accepted into Yale. He wasn't going anywhere. Then she had proceeded to yell at him, though she softened by the end of their conversation.

"How bad was it?" asked Dominic taking in his brother's presence as he shot a ball in the hole.

"Mother will eventually get over it. Where's Christina?" asked Soren apprehensively.

"I would assume that she's still talking to Father," responded Terrence distractedly as he shot the ball.

"Don't worry. She'll talk him out of it," declared Dominic.

"She'd better."

"She will," he insisted as if it were obvious.

"Mother told me what you did at school, why you have detention for the next week," informed Soren. "She wasn't pleased."

"Oh believe me, she's much happier with him than she is with you at this point in time," informed Terrence with a smirk on his face.

"You can't mean that," laughed Soren as Terrence shot the last ball in the hole.

"You cheated," insisted Dominic indignantly, not wanting to admit defeat.

Soren walked over to a table in the corner that was used for Terrence's endless games of chess. His brother was known for hosting Chess matches down here, where a lot of money was put on the table. Everyone drank and smoked pot. Their parents knew about it, but turned a blind eye as long as that was it. Every person lost money to Terrence except for Christina.

Everyone wanted to know how she did it. They assumed that he allowed his sister to win, though Soren knew that would never happen. She would always wear a small smile on her face reminding everyone that she was her mother's daughter. He began positioning the pieces on the board.

"Whats the point?" Asked Terrence as he sat across from his brother with a smirk on his face.

"What do you mean?"

"You lose to me almost every single time," reasoned Terrence.

"I feel lucky tonight," smiled Soren. They had this conversation quite often and yet the two of them played every single week.

*****  
Dominic and Terrence watched as their sister quietly walked into the room after awhile. She motioned for the two of them to remain quiet as she walked behind Soren with a devilish smile on her face which spoke of victory.

"Checkmate, Brother," Christina smirked at Terrence, winning the game for Soren.

"I guess you were feeling lucky," commented Terrence.

"So what did Father say?" Asked Soren.

"It would be in your best interest to make sure that stupid car looks even better than it did before you crashed it. I convinced him not to send you away. He's still quite angry with you, but after talking to Mother I'm sure that he'll become reasonable. And after you talk to the shop's owner I can only suggest that you call Father and to reassure him that the car will be in even better shape," finished off Christina.

"You're brilliant," admitted Soren grudgingly, reading inbetween the lines of their entire conversation.

"I truly am. Father confirmed that they will be renewing their vows in two months, though I don't know why she's doing this at the last moment. Perhaps she wants the satisfaction that everyone is going to clear their schedules at the last moment to attend. It could very well be the event of the year," declared Christina.

"Speak English," demanded Terrence wondering why she had an evil twinkle in her eye.

"Mother begins yelling at all the help a week before she hosts a small dinner party and doesn't stop until it's over. Everything must be perfect. Imagine every single important person we know at Aunt Helen's estate. This is a big party and it is only about two months away and Mother has chosen to plan it herself," declared Christina, finishing off with a smile.

"So?" asked Dominic, rubbing his eyes in order to stay awake.

"This entire house will be in a state of chaos for the next two months. Oh, and the best part is that we'll be writing their wedding vows."


	15. Chapter 15

Terrence was having the strangest morning at school. Every girl he had crossed paths with so far had taken one look at him before walking away. If he happened to run into a group of girls it was even worse. They'd stop, stare, whisper to each other and then quickly walk away. He texted his sister to meet him in the library.

"Are you hiding here?" asked Christina mockingly as she sat in the chair across from Terrence.

"What are they all whispering about?"

"Oh, you haven't heard yet? Rumor has it that you have an STD and that Sarah is just lucky she didn't get it. The female population feels bad for her," said Christina with a cruel smile.

"This is all your fault," accused Terrence trying to control his anger.

"How is this my fault?" demanded Christina.

"I dated her and sent a video to Hargrove. That gave you Manchester's recommendation into Yale!"

"She didn't make it up! She worships you," whispered Christina harshly.

"Fuck this. I'm going to talk to her," declared Terrence grabbing his stuff.

********  
"I would never say something like that even if you did break my heart. Why do you hate much so much?"

"I don't hate you. Our time was special, but unfortunately, like all things, it came to an end. It would have been worse to pretend to feel something I didn't, wouldn't it?" asked Terrence trying his best to sound reasonable.

"You're a great guy," smiled Sarah. "I really hope that you find what you're looking for."

"I'm not looking for anything."

"Then you'll find her very quickly."

"So about these rumors..."trailed off Terrance.

"I'll tell everyone that they were lies made up by a girl you had rejected months ago," promised Sarah.

"Thank you. I'm sorry that you didn't get the spot at Yale," he added as an afterthought.

"Well, I'm not. My parents want me to go to Yale. I have no desire to go," she replied dismissively.

"Are you sure?"

"I promise you. I'll see you later, Terrence."

After Sarah walked away he noticed her younger sister watching him with a cruel smile. As she walked away he realized she was responsible for the rumor. He couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration towards her.

Alicia had caught his interest in the past, but had made it abundantly clear she didn't think much of him. It looked as if he would just have to change her mind. He really did enjoy challenges.

******

Christina smiled politely at the school secretary as she walked into the Dean's office. He had requested to meet with her at lunchtime earlier in the day. She was already counting down the days until she was done kissing that loser's ass.

"Christina, thank you for meeting with me during your lunch. How is the remainder of your senior year going?" asked the Dean with a wide smile on his face.

"It's going about as well as can be expected. As you know, I have a lot on my plate," said Christina, making sure to match his smile.

"If there is anything I have learned about you in the past four years is that you know how to multitask. Speaking of which, how are your siblings these days?"

"What can I say Dean? Boys will be boys," joked Christina.

"How are your parents enjoying France?" he inquired.

"They seem to be having a marvelous time," answered Christina, hoping he would get to the point sometime before her twenty-fifth birthday.

"I'm sure you're wondering why I called you into my office."

"I assumed it concerned Manchester. Anything I can do to make this the best environment possible, brings me nothing but joy."

"You are just like your mother who is such a wonderful person," commented Hargrove.

"You've always given me a lot of advice and have helped shape me into the young woman I am."

"Oh, stop it." He laughed. "I assume you're aware of the circulating video of your brother and Sarah Johnson," he inquired.

"It's so horrible," said Christina, allowing tears to well up in her eyes. "Terrance and I had dinner together two nights ago. He unintentionally left his phone at the restaurant. Whoever found it must have recognized her from the papers. This is a travesty," whispered Christina.

"Terrence has always been an outstanding student. I found it impossible to believe he would do such a thing," confided Hargrove.

"Of course not. He loved Sarah very much. But, she broke up with him to fully devote herself to her studies," explained Christina.

"This is truly a horrible thing. As you know there is only one guaranteed spot at Yale. The board has agreed that if you still wish to attend, it's yours."

"Oh, my God. You can't possibly be serious. It wouldn't be right."

"What do you mean?"

"I feel so horrible about Sarah. I truly believe that she should have gotten a fair chance at this opportunity," explained Christina.

"Sarah's actions with your brother have disqualified her. I shouldn't tell you this, but the school board has voted in your favor. We had our monthly meeting last week, before anyone saw that awful video."

"Are you sure, Headmaster?"

"I promise. I know that you are going to make all of us proud," said Hargrove.

"I'll do my very best sir," promised Christina with a sincere expression.

"I know that you will. You may go to lunch now," he smiled.

"Have a good day, sir. And once again, thank you for everything."

"It's my pleasure."

As soon as she walked out of his office she rolled her eyes as she mentally calculated how many days she had left at Manchester. Christina could hardly contain her excitement at the prospect of leaving New York. She no longer wanted to be bothered with these morons, which otherwise would be acquainted with her until the day she died.

Soren had learned over the last eighteen years of his life that despite his grandmother's cold exterior she had to be handled with the up most care. She would invite him and his siblings to Sunday brunch at her home. The four of them dreaded it every single time. Shortening the visit by prodding her to get to the point, was an art form of sorts.

"I spoke with your Aunt Helen just last week about how terrible this really is. She agreed to visit their home with me," explained Tiffini.

Christina had absolutely no idea what her grandmother was going on about. She glanced at her brothers, hoping one of them knew. Dominic just shrugged his shoulders before letting out a small laugh.

"Is there something funny about suffering children?" demanded Tiffini.

"I'm sure he wasn't laughing about your tragic story," declared Soren sarcastically. "We're here because you have something to tell us."

"You never invite all of us to brunch unless you do," chimed in Dominic.

"Maybe I wanted to see all of you as well," commented Edward Valmont as he walked into the dining room with a smile on his face.

"What are you doing here?" asked Soren suspiciously.

"Not that we aren't happy to see you," amended Christina.

"Did you tell them our news yet?" asked Edward, sitting next to Tiffini.

The four of them looked at each other with disgusted expressions. Every time either grandparent had news for them they had gotten married or at least engaged. They could only draw one possible conclusion if they both had something to tell them.

"We got married last week," announced Tiffini happily.

"Why?" asked Dominic bluntly.

"We've always loved each other. After all of these years we decided that despite the fact that our children are married we should be allowed to be happy," explained Edward as if he finally had come to a logical conclusion.

"You guys love each other? Since when? Both of you are constantly getting married to other people," pointed out Dominic.

"It was the only way we had to deny the truth," admitted Edward dreamily.

"I'm sure," responded Soren dryly.

"Have you told our parents yet?" inquired Terrence.

"Well, no, not exactly. I was hoping you could speak with them, Christina," responded Edward uneasily.

"Why not?" asked Christina with a faux cheer in her voice.

"That should be an interesting conversation," muttered Dominic to his siblings as he imagined the fireworks that would ensue.

"Since we are all celebrating today, I have news of my own. Friday my acceptance letter from Yale arrived," announced Christina, desperate to change the subject.

"That's marvelous, darling! I'm so proud of you," said Edward with a smile on his face.

"That's just wonderful, dear," agreed Tiffani with a strained smile on her face.

"What about the two of you?" demanded Edward as he looked at Terrence and Soren.

Dominic controlled his laughter as he observed the look of envy on his grandmother's face. He concluded that she was angry because she was no longer the main focus of the morning.

********

"Mother fucker!"

Sebastian Valmont barely missed the vase that was thrown at his head. He watched as it broke on the floor leaving a puddle of water and glass.

"Now, Kathryn, how many times must I explain to you that violence doesn't solve anything?" snickered Sebastian.

"Oh, it doesn't?" questioned Kathryn, using a sweet voice. "It seems to solve everything with you."

Another piece of glass was thrown. Both parents were oblivious to the fact that all of their children had just arrived home from school.

"Kathryn, calm down," ordered Sebastian before pushing his wife against the wall. Someone had to stop her from demolishing his office.

"Looks like they had a wonderful time in France," Soren remarked sarcastically as he listened to his mother loudly object to being thrown against the wall.

"I'm sure they did. Mother probably left something in France or someone misplaced a piece luggage. Daddy on the other hand could care less," Christina explained.

"I guess now's not the best time to go talk with them," laughed Dominic as they all listened from the other side in anticipation.  
It was silent for about a minute before they could hear things being shoved off the desk, followed by their mother moaning.

"It's no wonder we're so fucked up," laughed Soren.

"I suppose that Mother can write a sequel to her parenting book,"commented Christina.

"I can't believe she wrote a book on parenting," said Dominic shaking his head.

"If they only knew..."

********

"All of you had better be on your best behavior," said Kathryn sternly preparing herself for the night ahead.

When her mother had called wanting to have a family dinner she had felt sick. The last thing she wanted to do was have dinner with her mother who had recently married her father-in-law. If she was irritated with her mother, Sebastian was livid with his father.

"Am I supposed to be on my best behavior as well? I cannot pretend to be happy about this,"drawled Sebastian.

"Then I suggest that you don't say anything at all," advised Kathryn tightly as the car pulled up to her mother's estate.

"In case it's escaped your attention this is my father we are talking about," roared Sebastian, not willing to back down from this one.

"Why don't all of you go ahead? I need to remind your father how to act appropriately ," directed Kathryn towards her children, watching as they quickly got out.

"Do you think I'm happy about this?" asked Kathryn glaring at Sebastian icily. It was just like him to somehow blame this situation on her.

"Let's just get this over with," muttered Sebastian as he made to get up. Kathryn thwarted his move by crawling onto his lap and wrapping her arms around his neck.

"This is ridiculous. They have both lost their minds," said Kathryn as she stared at him intently. She wanted her husband to know that she was on his side.

"Mm hmm," murmured Sebastian as he began to kiss her neck. His anger with his wife was quickly replaced by something far more important.

Kathryn giggled as she quickly lost her train of thought . Sebastian suddenly pulled away and looked her straight in the eye. "Let's go. The sooner this is over the sooner I can get you home and fuck your brains out."

"But, I want you right now," pouted Kathryn, slowly grinding her body against his.

"All you ever think about is sex," sighed Sebastian, as if she posed a problem.

"I suppose that at thirty-eight your stamina isn't what it once was."

Sebastian glared at her before suddenly flipping her on her back. Kathryn moaned her approval as he roughly kissed her.

******

"I was beginning to wonder if the two of you were coming tonight," murmured Tiffini as Kathryn and Sebastian took a seat at the table.

"There's no need to be worried about us Tiff. We're here as you can see," said Sebastian with a wide smile.

"Well, we can now eat," said Edward brightly unaware of the mounting tension in the room. It was only a matter of time before disaster struck.

"Everything looks delicious," commented Terrence.

"Thank you," said Tiffini. "I'm pleased to see someone has remembered their manners."

"You cooked all of this yourself?" asked Sebastian with a raised eyebrow. "Huh, I would have never guessed."

"Has Christina told the two of you about her acceptance into Yale?" asked Kathryn before her mother could respond to her husband's antics.

As Sebastian looked at his daughter he knew that this would be the spark that would ignite the tension in the room. He had told Christina last week when they had dinner that she needed to tell Kathryn about her change of plans.

"Yes, she told us all about it when you were in France," replied Tiffini.

"You never did tell us what your major will be," said Edward.

"I've decided not to go," announced Christina.

"What do you mean you've decided not to go?" asked Kathryn, her voice slightly raising.

"Well, Daddy is shooting next season's spread of Seventeen magazine. His client saw my picture and offered me a job," Christina replied uneasily.

"You're not going to Yale because you want to do a photo shoot," asked Kathryn fighting to remain calm.

"I've decided that I don't want to go to school. I want to model instead."

"Are you out of your mind?" asked Kathryn.

"Mother, you have always told me that no matter what I decide in life that you'll support me," exclaimed Christina.

"This is exactly what I am talking about! All of your children are spoiled rotten. Christina is about to throw her entire future away. You're a horrible mother," accused Tiffini.

At that point the entire room erupted in chaos. Kathryn stood up and grabbed her mother by the arm ignoring the protests from Edward. He may have said something about this not being an appropriate time. No one could be quite sure.

"Mother and I are going to have a drink in the next room," said Kathryn evenly.

As both women walked into the next room they could hear the argument that had now broken out between Edward and Sebastian. The only thing they heard was Edward tell Sebastian he wasn't going to be treated like this in his own home. They were now yelling at each other in French, but Kathryn had bigger concerns at the moment.

"Why don't I pour us a couple of drinks?" suggested Tiffini pleasantly.

"You'll need one," promised Kathryn.

"Come dear, what's this all about?" asked Tiffini as she poured herself a scotch.

"I've always wondered how you live with your feelings of jealousy towards me," said Kathryn looking her mother dead in the eye.

"What ever are you talking about?" asked Tiffini.

"From the time I was five I had to be perfect in every imaginable way. By the time I was thirteen I had a drug problem and a eating disorder. I reasoned with myself that if I were thin enough you might accept me," said Kathryn coldly with an air of detachment.

"Oh, enough with the theatrics," Tiffini shot back. "For as long as I can remember you've always enjoyed being the center of attention. It's part of your charm. I showed you how to stay in the spotlight. You should thank me."

"I should thank you?" asked Kathryn incredulously.

"Yes, you really should. You are loved and adored by all. You own your own business. You married a wealthy and successful man. You have four accomplished children."

"I have all of these things because I chose to be nothing like you!" shouted Kathryn.

"But you are like me! How can you not see it? You were absolutely livid that Christina doesn't plan on attending a prestigious university. What are people going to say? You are absolutely right to be concerned," announced Tiffini.

"I'll inform my husband and children that it's time for us to leave. I expect you to issue an apology to me and my daughter within the next day. If you fail to do so there will be consequences," promised Kathryn with a cold smile on her face.

"You are cold and ruthless. I told you we were just alike" smiled Tiffini.

"I wasn't quite finished. I'm going to speak with Christina tonight. She's going to model my new clothing line set to launch in the summer. She's going to be a success. And if she decides to never pursue an education I am going to support her."

"Are you serious?"

"You see now Mother that we are quite different. I want my children to be happy with themselves."

Kathryn smiled as she left her mother speechless. She made her apologies to Edward before getting everyone into the car. No one said anything on the way home. In the midst of all of the chaos she felt a sense of peace. Now all of her attention could be focused on her and Sebastian's upcoming renewal of their vows ceremony.

**A/N: One more Chapter to go!**


End file.
